The Arab Union for Trade Facilitation appoints legal expert "Rani Sader" as Secretary-General

MP Al-Saloum: An important step to achieve the union’s goals and agenda

His Excellency MP Ahmed Sabah Al-Saloum, Chairman of the Arab Federation for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management, announced the appointment of Mr. Rani Sader, CEO of Legal Innovation at Sader Legal Group (1863) and Senior Partner at Sader Associates (Lawyers and Legal Consultants) as Secretary General of the Federation.

Mr. Rani Sader has extensive legal experience spanning more than 30 continuous years, including many important milestones, whether in his home country, Lebanon, or in his work in a number of Gulf countries, most notably the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

His Excellency MP Al-Saloum said in a statement on this occasion, “The Union is moving forward in achieving its goals and implementing its agenda. We are pleased to announce today the appointment of Mr. Rani Sader as Secretary-General, with all the experience and knowledge he brings, and we are fully confident that he will harness it in serving the Union’s work and its goals aimed at serving the Arab economy and joint inter-investments. It was a coincidental choice for its people, and we hope that everyone will witness its good fruits during the coming few months. Mr. Sader has been tasked with selecting the administrative and executive elements of the structure of the Arab Union to facilitate trade, and moving forward in implementing the Union’s work agenda.”

For his part, Mr. Rani Sader said, “I am very pleased with this selection, and we will all strive to achieve the main objectives of the union. It is one of the newest Arab unions that has been licensed to operate under the umbrella of the Arab Economic Unity Council. Preparations are currently underway to launch its work through a major regional conference that will discuss the most important issues for which it was established, most notably combating smuggling, eliminating monopoly and black market practices, facilitating the movement of inter-trade and customs procedures, unifying specifications and standards for various goods, and preserving and supporting intellectual property.”

It is worth noting that the Arab Union for Trade Facilitation and Risk Management is headquartered in the Bahraini capital, Manama, and operates through 3 main axes, including:

- Facilitating and supporting legitimate trade outlets and combating various forms of illicit trade, through developing and coordinating the areas of work of the Union’s members, and cooperating with the relevant authorities to address the technical and commercial problems and risks arising from legitimate and illicit trade.

- Cooperation, coordination and building strategic partnerships with the public and private sectors to increase the level of security and facilitate trade operations, in a way that enhances trade safety, overcomes customs and non-customs restrictions and controls illegal practices in trade.

- Developing training programs and holding seminars and conferences on frameworks and standards for trade security and facilitation, as well as cooperating with official bodies in supporting programs that would reduce harmful practices to trade, including but not limited to: smuggling and combating counterfeit goods, tax evasion, and breaching competition conditions, as they are all issues that threaten the growth of national economies.