Manama to be the headquarters of the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management... and Al-Saloum as Chairman

"Manama" is the headquarters of the "Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management" .. and Al-Saloum is the president

The Union aims to facilitate and support legitimate Arab trade outlets .. and combat illegal trade

The headquarters is opened and the first founding meeting of the Union is held with the participation of 7 Arab countries .. soon

The Council of Arab Economic Unity, affiliated with the League of Arab States, approved the decision to establish the "Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management", with its headquarters in the Kingdom of Bahrain, headed by His Excellency MP Ahmed Sabah Al-Saloum, Chairman of the Bahrain Society for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the membership of a group of businessmen from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco.

The Secretary-General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity, Ambassador Mohammed Al-Rabee, sent a letter to the Bahraini Foreign Ministry to approve the establishment and hosting of the headquarters of the union, and the Bahraini Foreign Ministry welcomed the request.

MP Al-Saloum said in a statement on this occasion that the union will be the first of its kind to be hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, indicating in this regard that the majority of unions of an Arab nature used to establish their headquarters in Cairo as the capital of the headquarters of the Arab League, but recently there has been a trend to distribute the headquarters of such unions to different Arab capitals to contribute to their involvement in joint Arab work, and we have submitted a request to establish and host the union, and its establishment has been approved by all relevant parties, and the headquarters will be officially inaugurated within a short period.

Al-Saloum explained that based on high-level contacts with brothers in a number of Arab and Gulf countries, it became clear that there is a common desire to establish an entity concerned with facilitating trade operations and reducing and managing risks. Accordingly, the idea of ​​establishing the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management was proposed. It is a union emanating from the Council of Arab Economic Unity affiliated with the League of Arab States. The headquarters of the union will be the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the first founding meeting will be held in the coming few weeks.

Al-Saloum continued, saying, "The union seeks to develop, advance and coordinate the fields of work of its members, strengthen ties between them and contribute to achieving economic integration between all Arab countries by exercising its tasks, specializations and expertise in enhancing and developing legitimate trade outlets through various means of awareness and education that clarify the importance of combating all forms of illegal trade. It also aims to improve the unity of legal legislation applied in Arab countries with regard to the movement of inter-Arab trade."

The Union also contributes to developing national laws and legislation in Arab countries in line with international standards in securing and facilitating inter-trade, international charters, agreements and treaties in the field of commercial activity emanating from the WTO and WCO organizations and ways to protect them - for the benefit of the Union members in all Arab countries, consumers, producers and the economic and legal community in general in the Arab world. Al-Saloum said that the union aims to achieve a set of basic general objectives for which it was established, through the following specializations:

1. Facilitating and supporting legitimate trade outlets and combating various forms of illegal trade, by developing and coordinating the areas of work of the union members from all Arab countries and strengthening ties between them to support Arab economic integration, studying aspects related to facilitating trade in all its forms and contents, describing its foundations and impact, and proposing basic lines to push it in the form of laws consistent with it and dealing with international systems, legislation and security standards.

2. Cooperation, coordination and building strategic partnerships with the public and private sectors to increase the level of security and facilitate trade operations, by developing an action plan to encourage member companies and institutions in the union to deal as one group in relations with official bodies (Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and its systems, Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Customs Administration) in a way that enhances overcoming customs and non-customs restrictions and controlling practices Illegal trade.

3. Develop training programs and hold seminars and conferences on frameworks and standards for trade security and facilitation, by providing technical assistance and support to institutions in the least developed Arab countries, including Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros, Mauritania and Sudan, as well as cooperating with official bodies to support national programs that would reduce harmful practices to trade, including, but not limited to: smuggling, tax evasion and breach of competition conditions, as they threaten the growth of the national economy.