Summit gives cooperation brighter future – Africa-Arab participants hail Kuwait meeting

KUWAIT: Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani said that the Third Africa-Arab Summit comes to give both regions a new dimension and a promising step to a brighter future. In his opening speech at the summit he said it reflects the historic ties that combine them both. “What combines them both of cultural, social and geographic proximity represents a solid foundation for a strong partnership that could benefit their peoples,” he added. Although he stressed that they need further cooperation and integration in order to achieve the aspirations of their peoples, especially as they together possess huge financial, natural and human resources. The GCC supports this “brotherly meeting,” he added, along with efforts aimed strengthening relations between the Arab world and Africa which would result in development and growth for both. On his turn, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson stressed that the Arab and African regions should focus on the issues of peace, women empowerment, job opportunities, human rights and sustainable development.

The two regions need to work together to respond to the aspirations of their people, he said in a speech to attendees of day one of the two-day Third Africa-Arab Summit held in Kuwait yesterday. He referred to a visit by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the Sahel region, where he had witnessed a strong commitment for peace and reconciliation. In Somalia, for instance, there are steps being taken to improve education, he noted. Eliasson went on to note to the need for South-South trade cooperation, which the UN fully supports. Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) are still required to be reached, and he urged the nation to work towards achieving these goals. He also highlighted the need to address the environment, the solving of disputes, particularly in Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with the issue of Palestinian statehood.

Meanwhile, Deputy President of the World Bank Sri Mulyani Indrawati expressed her thanks and gratitude for all countries which offered aid and assistance to the flood-stricken Philippines. Speaking before the opening session of the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit, Indrawati praised the support extended by those countries to all stricken peoples of the world. She called for a joint vision for cooperation and integration between the Arab and African countries, saying such integration would benefit them to achieve the sought development. She spoke about the poverty in Africa saying 40 percent of the population in Africa live on $1.25 per day, calling for establishing a strategy to fight poverty. She pointed out that the Arab spring has created an opportunity for all countries to address their problems and come up with solutions to such conflicts. Indrawati stressed the need for initiating investments in each African country in order to achieve trade integration, recalling the ASEAN’s experience in this regard.

She said that the African continent is rich in mineral resources and raw materials, stressing the need for a strong leadership and sound financial institutions to work on increasing investment and economic partnerships between the two sides. She expressed the World Bank’s thanks for the State of Kuwait’s continued cooperation aimed at achieving the welfare of the peoples of the world. She also asserted the role played by the International Fund for Africa in assisting the continent, recalling the experience of Malaysia which used to benefit from this fund where now it has become a donor country itself. For his part, Arab Parliament chief Ahmed Al-Jarwan said that the Third Africa-Arab Summit is being held amid complicated regional and international challenges.

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Summit gives cooperation brighter future – Africa-Arab participants hail Kuwait meeting