Amr Mousa: The Year 2020 Will Witness a Transfer to a Common Arab Market
07 Apr 2006CAIRO – The Secretary-General for the League of Arab States, Mr. Amr Mousa, expects a transfer from a free Arab trade zone to a common Arab market by the year 2020.
His comments came during his inauguration of the board of directors’ meetings of the Evian Group-Arab Region in the Egyptian capital of Cairo last month. He affirmed that the issue of reform and the way to fulfill it occupies an important position on the Arab agenda, in parallel with other causes.
Mousa also clarified that multilateral trade amongst Arab nations almost doubled in the past couple of years from 8% of overall Arab trade to 14%. Although this percentage is relatively low he pointed out, there is the ambition to increase it, especially in light of the growth in Arab tourism and Arab investments.
The Secretary-General alluded to the fact that the progress achieved in reforms in many Arab economies, has set the groundwork for greater acceptance of investments, as he expects an increase in multilateral Arab investments.
The Chairman of the Evian Group-Arab Region, Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, also delivered a speech, in which he announced the establishment of The Arab Network for Education Analysis and Accreditation of University Degrees, Programs and Educational Bodies, under the honorary presidency of the Secretary General for the League of Arab States.
Abu-Ghazaleh added in his speech that “it has been decided that the headquarters of the network be located in Brussels, which is the headquarters of the European Union, so that Arab educational programs will be on par with the highest international levels.”
Abu-Ghazaleh pointed out that last week cooperation agreements were signed with major examination and accreditation bodies in Britain and Germany, so that they can place their programs at the disposal of the network. He said that their programs will be adopted and modified in accordance with the needs of the region.
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