LOC17:53
14:53 GMT
CAIRO, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- The Arab Economic, Social and Development Summit, to be held in Kuwait on Monday and Tuesday, will be a historic event and turning point in the process of the joint Arab action, Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Sunday.
The summit, which aims to tackle the problems of the daily life of the Arab citizens, gains further importance as it coincides with the grave consequences of the global financial turmoil and the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip, the state-run news service said in a lengthy report.
As part of the ongoing Arab active diplomacy, the first session of the summit the Arab leaders will focus on how to implement the United Nations Security Council 1860 on ceasefire in Gaza Strip, according to the report.
The summit will lobby more Arab and international support for the Egyptian initiative on immediate ceasefire in Gaza which aims to put an end to the atrocities being committed by the Israeli forces against Gazans.
During their pre-summit meeting, the Arab foreign ministers agreed to integrate the Egyptian initiative into the agenda of the summit, the report pointed out.
The "stormy" global economic changes and financial "tremor" coupled with the ordeal of Gaza posed serious impacts on the Arab region that require urgent collective action, the report pointed out.
With a total population of 310 million people, the Arab region has an unemployment rate ranging between 10 and 15 percent.
The two-day summit has to adopt crucial decisions on the free movement of capital, commodities, services and labor among the Arab countries in order to lay the groundwork for an effective economic integration.
It will outline a clear-cut political framework for economic integration and create an investment-friendly environment, according to the report.
The Arab decision-makers have to give the green light to vital projects such as the power grid hooks-up, the linkage of road systems, food security, water security and the common market.
The projects, to be approved by the summit, are part of an Arab strategy to achieve a balanced comprehensive socio-economic development and improve the standards of living of the Arab citizens, the added. (end) rg.gb.
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