A+ A-

Kuwait summit to consider significant Arab issues - coordinator

CAIRO, Dec 17 (KUNA) -- The Arab economic summit slated in Kuwait on January 19-20 will thrash out important issues that concern Arab citizens in the first place, the general coordinator of the summit said here Wednesday.
Preparations for the summit were based on 15 scientific studies, 20 meetings with various societal bodies and over 450 proposals sent by Arab organizations, Mervat Al-Talawi said in a report.
The summit will discuss a key issue bearing on Arab water security in terms of the size and nature of water resources and water needs at present and in the future and the impact of the water gap on food and national security, she said.
The issue of water is of paramount significance on the basis that it is a challenge facing the future of development in the Arab world, she added.
She regarded water security as the backbone of food security, which is a core component of national security, given the fact Arab internal and external political, economic, social, environmental and technical challenges could lead to sharp water shortage.
The issue of water in the Arab world includes such internal challenges as water scarcity, drought, desertification and mounting use of water due to overpopulation and urban expansion, she said.
It also involves external challenges, chiefly control by neighboring countries over most Arab water resources.
In this context, Al-Talawi noted that the "Arab water security" project to be discussed during the Kuwait summit recommended that the approval of an Arab water strategy as part of other Arab development strategies, establishment of an Arab fund to support water research and projects and overhauling of legal and administrative water policies and frameworks in Arab countries.
The project also calls for buttressing efforts for the development of unconventional water resources through seawater desalination or waste water recycling, she said.
Another blueprint pertinent to scientific and technological development in the Arab world is to figure out prominently on the agenda of the summit, she said.
She blasted Arab scientific research centers - only 50 in number - as suffering unilateralism and poor link to development and only aiming to improve the scientific situation.
All the Arab countries release only 514 scientific periodicals while Japan alone issues 13,883 periodicals, she said.
In view of translation, Turkey translates documents more than all the Arab countries do every year, and the number of patents is very small compared to other developed nations, the coordinator of the Kuwait summit lamented.
Regarding information networks, although some Arab countries have provided and linked scientific networks to international ones, the lack of pan-Arab networks is still blocking the possible sharing of information among them, she said in her report.
Therefore, the Arab scientific and technological plan to be discussed by the summit is based on the fact that the immigration of scientists and scholars have undermined investment in scientific research and jeopardized the future of technological development in the Arab world, Al-Talawi added.
In relation to roads, she said the conferees would mull over a plan to complete a pan-Arab road network to cover all Arab countries, including Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and Djibouti, hinging upon a relevant scientific study compiled by the Secretariat of the Arab League. (end) hw.mt KUNA 171311 Dec 08NNNN