Qatar Participates in Senior Officials Meeting of Economic and Social Council Preparatory for Arab Summit in Algeria

Algiers, October 27 (QNA) - The State of Qatar participated on Thursday in the work of the meeting of senior officials preparatory to the meeting of the Economic and Social Council, which will submit its recommendations to the meetings of the Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level scheduled for October 29 and 30, which precedes the work of the 31st Arab Summit on November 1, 2, 2022 in Algiers. The meetings of the Council of the League of Arab States continued at the level of permanent delegates, which started on Wednesday. The Arab League Council, at the level of permanent delegates, will submit to the Arab foreign ministers preparatory meeting for the summit the agreed draft resolutions on many political, economic and social files and issues on the agenda of the 31st session, among them is the Palestinian issue, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the current international and regional developments, the issue of Arab food security, and the situations in Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. On Friday, the Economic and Social Council will meet to discuss a number of important issues, foremost of which is the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its negative effects on the Arab economic level, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent recession in the global economy. The agenda also includes a number of topics that have been prepared in order to enhance joint Arab economic and social work, in a way that supports the efforts of member states aimed at implementing the 2030 sustainable development plan, foremost of which is the establishment of the Arab Center for Economic and Social Empowerment Studies in Palestine, in addition to presenting the indicative strategic framework to support social work, as well as an Arab strategy to promote volunteer work, the strategy to advance women's work within the framework of the sustainable development goals, and support Arab efforts for economic and social recovery from the repercussions of the (Covid-19) pandemic. In this regard, Algeria’s permanent representative to the Arab League Mondher Arbaoui, said in his speech at the opening of the meeting of senior officials of the Economic and Social Council, that the meeting reviews the comprehensive economic and social file submitted to the Arab summit, especially the draft resolutions of an economic and social nature for joint Arab action within the framework of implementing 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. He explained that the discussion of these files comes in light of a global crisis of multiple economic, social and health dimensions in the global arena, and the resulting economic and social challenges that are reflected in the economic growth of Arab countries, especially in the field of food security, in addition to the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic. He stressed that these challenges require all of us to combine efforts to enhance joint Arab cooperation to confront these various challenges and keep pace with the rapid developments at the regional and international levels. He indicated that the economic and social decisions projects presented to the meeting include many important and priority areas due to their close connection with the national policies of member states, especially in order to embody the Arab economic integration project, those related to promoting trade exchange and implementing various programs and strategies related to sustainable development. For her part, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League, Head of the Social Affairs Sector at the League, said in her speech that the topics on the summit agenda include the topic of economic and social recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic, in Arab countries, the completion of the requirements of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, the establishment of the Arab Customs Union, and the problems of the informal economy in the Arab countries along with the Arab vision of the digital economy and the mechanisms for addressing the tax challenges arising from it. She also pointed out that Arab cooperation, food security, sustainable Arab agricultural development, improving production and maintaining the sustainability of Arab pastures are important economic topics on the summit's agenda. For his part, the Director of the Economic Integration Department at the Arab League Dr. Bahjat Abul-Nasr, said that there are many important economic files under discussion within the agenda of the 31st Arab Summit in Algeria, most notably food security and the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone, in addition to a file on digital economy taxes, pointing to the great achievements made in these files, which are scheduled to be presented to Arab leaders. He added, in statements on the sidelines of the preparatory meetings for the Arab summit in Algeria, that there are some new proposals on the agenda of the summit within the framework of Arab economic integration, including a mechanism for unifying the unified customs tariff. Algeria has completed its final preparations to host the Arab summit, affirming its determination for the success of the summit, in order to produce results that live up to the aspirations of the Arab peoples. The last Arab summit was held in 2019, while 2020 and 2021 were postponed, due to measures related to Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. (QNA)