MEMO posted an article on March 27, 2017 titled Arab League chief : Only 10% of foreign trade is between Arab states and that is self-explanatory. This trade however limited is nevertheless in need of some infrastructural base. It is offered by several organisations one of which is the Arab Customs Union. So, Intra Arab Trade being conjointly arranged through several organisations of which the Arab Customs Union latest developments are the most apparent does get to be debated fairly but unfortunately not that often.
According to Wikipedia, the Arab Customs Union is a customs union announced at the Arab League‘s 2009 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait in order to achieve a functional customs union by 2015 and an Arab common market by 2020 and to increase inter-Arab trade and integration.
The announcement was made by the head of the Arab Customs Union Committee, Saud Al Jefeiri, who recently presided over a two-day meeting of the committee at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
We republish this article of Sawsan Abu-Husain that is also self-explanatory and well enlightening on the intra Arab nation’s business exchange level whether at states and / or enterprises.
Arab Economic Committee Discusses Customs Union’s Developments
Cairo – Committee of Arab Economic and Social Council – headed by Hussain bin Shuwaish al-Shuwaish, Director-General of the Arab and Islamic Economic Relations Department at the Saudi Ministry of Finance – commenced its activities on Monday with the participation of senior officials in finance and economy ministers in Arab states.
The two-day committee discusses the economic file of the Arab Economic and Social Council 100th ministerial session, including 15 terms.
Shuwaish affirmed during the inaugural session that the agenda is full of significant topics in the joint Arab work, majorly preparations for the economic-social file of the upcoming Arab Summit in March, Riyadh.
“This summit comes in exceptional economic conditions the world is experiencing, especially the Arab one. This requires exerting additional efforts to come up with historic decisions in the summit to reinforce joint Arabic work,” Shuwaish said.
He added that the Arab free trade zone is the backbone of joint Arab economic work since “through it the structural Arab trade flourishes, Arab investments increase and economic relations among member states boost.”
Shuwaish stated that the agenda consists of several topics of interest, especially the Arab customs union developments.
Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League Ambassador Kamal Hussein Ali said that the economic terms discussed emphasize importance of Arab economic integration, given that the Arab free trade zone is a priority.
Assistant Secretary General urged enhancement of investment climate and competitiveness in Arab states – he also called for focusing more on food security, knowing that this topic is listed on the agenda.
