Chairman of the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation: We expect important economic and political decisions at the extraordinary Arab summit in Manama

MP Al-Saloum: Food security files... climate change... consequences of the aggression on Gaza are strongly present on the table

MP Al-Saloum: We, as a union, are concerned with raising issues of combating smuggling and the black market, in order to protect Arab economies.

MP Ahmed Sabah Al-Saloum, Chairman of the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management and Vice President of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, stressed that everyone is looking forward to the outcomes of this historic Arab summit in Bahrain, whether in the Arab world or even in the regional and international environment, considering it an exceptional summit given that it is based on an important principle, which is to revive the spirit of joint Arab action and reunite, in light of difficult and exceptional circumstances represented by the continued aggression on Gaza.

He said that it is expected that the Gulf leaders, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, may God protect and preserve him, will discuss, at their summit in the capital, Manama, a number of prominent economic files, including the file of economic partnership, food security, maritime security, climate change, economic alliances, and others.

Al-Saloum stressed that the union is interested in raising many economic issues and files during the summit and its preliminary meetings, indicating in this regard that issues such as preventing and combating smuggling, eliminating the black market, and double customs between Arab countries are among the files that the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation gives top priority and hopes that important and decisive decisions will be taken on them at the upcoming summit.

He pointed out that the summit is being held under exceptional economic circumstances imposed by the state of turmoil and security instability in the Middle East and the situation in Gaza, in addition to the accelerating effects of climate change and its repercussions on all other economic and developmental issues on the table and which are expected to be raised at the Bahrain Summit. He explained that the 33rd Regular Arab Summit comes at a precise and critical historical time in the life of the Arab nation, witnessing many challenges, threats and regional conflicts, whether on the political, security or geopolitical level, perhaps the most important of which is the situation in Gaza, which requires everyone to unite, unite and stand as one to achieve joint Arab solidarity.

Al-Saloum said, “From my point of view, the economic file, along with the political and security files, will occupy an important space in the discussions and meetings of the Arab Summit, especially since the ultimate goal is to achieve prosperity, development and growth for the Arab peoples, in light of a group of agreements that were approved in previous meetings, most notably the Arab Charter for Action, the Charter for Arab Economic Action, the Agreement to Establish the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, and the Agreement of the Arab Organization for Standardization and Metrology at the League of Arab States, in order to develop capabilities and joint Arab economic action regionally and internationally.”

Al-Saloum explained that the food security file is one of the main outcomes of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and its impact on food supply chains and energy sources, and the resulting rise in prices of most basic commodities in most Arab countries, in a way that made there a major challenge facing the budgets of Arab countries, and placing burdens on families and broad sectors of society in the Arab region, and there are important proposals related to how to enhance Arab food security, and proposals to establish an emergency fund to deal with this challenge. Al-Saloum continued, saying, “We hope for the rapid and urgent implementation of various cooperation agreements and integrated economic strategies between Arab countries to be a real economic force that can withstand the challenges of the era and represent a strong economic bloc that serves the entire Arab people, and is in line with the qualitative changes taking place in the global economic arena.”

Al-Saloum pointed out that despite the importance of previous Arab summits and the keenness of Arab leaders to adopt decisions in favor of Arab security and the sovereignty of Arab countries, the circumstances of the Manama Summit are completely different from those summits due to the political situation and the continued escalation and tension in the region, which is pushing towards a regional war due to the events in Gaza, Sudan and Libya. And other areas of tension, which requires the Kingdom of Bahrain to form a pressure factor within the summit so that the outcomes of its decisions are at the level of the hot events in the Arab world.