Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Jeddah, SANA-With participation of Syrian delegation, activities of the senior officials meeting preparatory for Economic and Social Council of the works of the Arab League (AL), scheduled to be held on May 19 in Saudi Arabia, kicked off in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
The Syrian delegation encompasses Assistant Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade for International Affairs, Rania Ahmed, Director of Arab Affairs Department, Ambassador Dr. Riyad Abbas, Director of International Relations Dr. Anas Al-Bikai, and Counselor Ihsan Rumman from Office of Foreign Minister.
In their speech, a number of the participating delegations, welcomed resuming Syria’s participation in these meetings, including the delegations of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq and representatives of Morocco, Oman, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs in the General Secretariat of the Arab League.
Head of the Syrian delegation, Assistant Minister of Economy, Rania Ahmed expressed, in her speech, Syria appreciation and thanks for the Arab countries which offered assistance to alleviate the repercussions of the earthquake disaster on the Syrian people.
“Syria attaches great importance of the return of the displaced people, due to the war, to their homes and cities, which requires activating the economic movement in their areas through encouraging the establishment of small and medium projects in various sectors,” Ahmad said, adding that legislations and programs which support that and provide facilitations for the foreign companies wishing to invest in Syria have been issued.
Ahmed called for the work to remove tariff and non-tariff measures on intra-trade, in order to enhance the role of the “Greater Arab Free Trade Area” (GAFTA) in Arab economic development.
Ahmed pointed out to the necessity of adopting a decision to increase the number of the states represented in the fields of management of joint companies and Arab financial institutions in a way that contributes to grant the intermediate and small shareholders the opportunity to participate in the formulation and decision-making to encourage these institutions to establish their projects in Syria.
Ahmed called for work to remove restrictions on intra-trade, in order to enhance the role of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area in Arab economic development.
At the beginning of the opening session of the meeting, Head of the Algerian delegation, Leila Bukhari, affirmed importance of the meeting of the Council because it tackles economic and social issues related to the reality of our Arab societies, in addition to that it is held in presence of the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic.
In the speech of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the chairperson of the session, Abdulmohsen bin Saad Al-Khalaf, referred to the importance of economic integration among the Arab countries to expand the margin of flexibility in facing challenges and risks, indicating the need to come up with decisions that would advance Arab economic action through unifying efforts in a way that helps to push the joint Arab action forward.
“the preparatory work and meetings for the summit are of special importance, as they witness the participation of the Syrian delegation, which we particularly welcome,” Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector in the General Secretariat of the Arab League, said
The meeting also included a closed session during which the draft agenda and a number of draft projects of Arab economic decisions were discussed and approved.
Assistant Minister of Economy Rania Ahmed stressed in a statement to SANA after the meeting, the importance of the Syrian delegation’s participation, pointing out that the developments and the economic and social aspects were discussed, and views were exchanged, the need to participate in decision-making, which should be reflected in the development of joint Arab economic action, were touched upon during the meeting.
