The upcoming meeting of Arab leaders in Tunisia, will be “the summit of difficult political challenges”, the Arab League’s Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs Kamal Hassan Ali announced.
All options are on the table after a “US decision to forcefully grant Arab lands to others,” the ambassador told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He described the meeting scheduled for Sunday as “the summit of difficult economic and political challenges” after US President Donald Trump recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and decided to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
He pointed out that the summit will discuss the Arab Common Market for Electricity, a plan for housing and sustainable development, making cities safe, as well as Arab action on environmental issues and climate change.
Asked about a Saudi proposal to merge the periodic Arab and economic summits, Ali explained that there is a decision to hold the economic summit every four years along with the periodic summit.
A number of high-level preparatory meetings began in Tunis on Tuesday to set the stage for the 30th Arab League summit.
Director-General for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Tunisian Ministry of Trade and Industry Saeeda Hashisha chaired the meeting of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council.
She took over from Saudi Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance for International Financial Affairs Hussein Bin Shweish al-Shawish.
Hashisha stressed the importance of cooperation with Saudi Arabia, which had chaired the previous Arab summit.
She emphasized the importance of the greater Arab trade zone, as well as adopting a number of strategies to reduce risks and disasters, in addition to combating terrorism, and eradicating poverty.
Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector of Arab League Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh praised the efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia during its presidency and management of the previous summit.
Abu Ghazaleh said that the summit's agenda includes a number of economic and social issues, which are a priority for joint Arab action, and the results of which directly affect the lives of Arab citizens.
The Ambassador also indicated that the summit will discuss support to the Palestinian economy in the face of Israeli practices, which negatively affected the economic and social conditions in the country.
Within the framework of Arab efforts to eradicate terrorism, the summit will discuss the social and cultural reasons behind it.
In addition, the summit is scheduled to deal with the Arab strategy for the elderly, initiated by Tunisia, which will constitute a qualitative leap in joint Arab action to ensure a decent life for this age group from a human rights perspective.
