Arab, African Leaders Vow To Prioritize Cooperation

Saturday, November 23, 2013

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Arab and African leaders wrapped up their first summit in three years here on Wednesday, reaffirming their desire to put cooperation in the kernel of Arab- African ties.

The two-day meeting, with them theme of “Partners in Development and Investment,” drew the attendance of over 71 leaders and representatives from the Arab and African countries, as well as guests from outside the regions.

A major outcome of the summit is the issuance of the Kuwait Declaration, which calls for achieving Arab-African integration through intensified trade and investment and bringing the two marginalized regions into the agenda of the world’s economy.

The declaration issued at Wednesday’s closing session stressed that cooperation should be strengthened on the basis of “a strategic partnership that endeavors to maintain justice, international peace and security.”

The Arab and African nations, the declaration said, understand the urgency of formulating development-friendly financial policies to “guarantee sustainability in order to enhance poverty eradication policies including the Millennium Development Goals.”

They also commit themselves to jointly and decisively “ addressing the underlying causes of conflict and violence in Africa and the Arab region, with a view to creating a conducive environment for the prosperity and well-being of the peoples of the two regions,” according to the declaration.

Specifically, the participating leaders agreed to strengthen the Arab-African Economic Forum to enhance the role and participation of the private sector and civil society organizations in building partnership.

Also, the declaration calls upon the African Union Commission, the Arab League’s General Secretariat and existing financing institutions from the two regions to set up a task force to coordinate efforts in implementing the Arab-African Joint Action Plan.

Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-sabah said: “We are required to continue building upon the achievements we reached to add bricks to the lofty edifice of our cooperation toward planning our future work.”

“We have a long way and hard work ahead, requiring doubled efforts,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Kuwaiti emir instructed the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development to offer soft loans worth one billion U.S. dollars to African countries in the next five years, while Kuwait is also to allocate an annual prize of one million dollars for research development in Africa.

The initiatives were lauded by a number of African leaders, as well as Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, who highlighted the importance of enhanced cooperation between the Arab and African states in developing renewable energy resources and fighting terrorism.

For her part, Nkasazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairperson of the African Union Commission, said she looks forward to seeing a better integration between the African and Arab nations, and the sharing of experience between them in areas including agriculture, transportation and aviation.

During the summit, the Arab and African leaders also reaffirmed their stance on the need to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands and to establish a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

The two regions’ leaders showed commitment to holding the summit every three years and agreed to convene the next African- Arab Summit in Africa in 2016. The last Arab-African summit was held in the Libyan city of Sirte in 2010, and the first in Cairo nearly four decades ago.

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