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Home > Business & Finance > Jordanian Foreign Minister calls for deeper coordination that guarantees a greater Arab role in overcoming challenges


Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi highlighted Friday the need for a deeper coordination that would guarantee a greater Arab role in overcoming challenges.

In his delivered word at the Foreign and Economic Ministers' meeting at the Phoenicia Hotel earlier today, Safadi hoped that the meeting would be "an effective step towards strengthening our joint Arab action and serving the interests of our peoples and nations."

"Our economies, as well as our security and stability, are interconnected and interdependent, and our development paths are strengthened and developed through the institutionalization of economic cooperation mechanisms," Safadi added. He pointed to achieving economic integration through maximizing achievements and economic plans and enhancing economic and trade relations.

He deemed that the potentials and capabilities of Arab states are huge, but what is lacking is having an effective regional cooperation framework that would increase trade exchange, link infrastructure and encourage investment.

"We hope this summit will provide the chance to assess the state of our economic relations in order to identify obstacles standing in way of their development, and to agree on a road map that will allow progress towards achieving their comprehensiveness," Safadi went on.

The Jordanian Minister referred to the clear negative implications of political instability on Arab development. "Wars and crises have exhausted our resources, frustrated our youth and deprived our region of the security and stability necessary to achieve economic growth capable of meeting the needs of our societies for high levels of education, services and jobs," he said.

"Therefore, we must pause for a while to evaluate the effectiveness of our approach in dealing with our crises. We need a deeper coordination that guarantees a greater Arab role in overcoming the challenges we face, and increases our ability to influence international policies towards our countries and our issues," Safadi asserted.

"The Israeli occupation remains the greatest threat to regional security and the main cause of tension and instability," he added, stressing that this "hinders the overall economic development."

Safadi outlined the need for Arab action to revive the international political efforts aimed at resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution, in accordance with the international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative that has been launched from Beirut.

He also pointed to the necessity of putting an end to the Syrian crisis and the endless sufferings of the Yemeni people.

"There must be an active and positive Arab role in reaching a political solution to the crisis in accordance with Resolution 2254, which would be agreeable to the Syrians and which would preserve the unity of Syria, achieve national reconciliation, restore its security and stability and allows for the return of the displaced," Safadi underscored.

"The devastation caused by the crises in our region is huge, which calls for a comprehensive Arab reconstruction project to rebuild and affirm that it is the Arabs themselves, and not others, who bear the responsibility of their world," he underlined.

Safadi concluded by hoping that the current summit will bear Beirut's historic promise of enlightenment, pluralism and hope for an Arab world that is "open, integrated and capable of serving our common interests and achieving comprehensive development."

Source: National News Agency