Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud opened at King Abdulaziz International Center for Conferences in Riyadh last evening the 4th Arab & South American countries summit in the attendance of kings, presidents and heads of delegations of the countries participating in the summit. At the outset of the opening ceremony, verses from the holy Quran were recited. Then the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Chairman of the summit, delivered the following speech: 'In the name of Allah, the most gracious, most merciful Thanks to God Almighty and Prayer and Peace be upon his messenger, Your Majesties, Highnesses, Excellencies the heads of delegations of Arab countries and South American countries, His Excellency the Secretary General of the Arab League His Excellency the Secretary General of the United Nations The distinguished audience, Assalamu Alaykum Warahmatu Allahi Wabrakatu (Peace and God's mercy and blessings be upon you) It gives me a great pleasure to welcome all of you, and I highly appreciate your acceptance of the invitation to participate in this summit, praising the good efforts made by the heads of the previous sessions held, successively in each of the Federal Republic of Brazil, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Peru, and stressing the importance of relations between our countries as well as the Kingdom's keenness to develop and enhance them in all fields. Distinguished guests: We are satisfied with the convergence and conformity of our views towards many international issues and questions, and commend the positive attitudes of friendly South American countries supportive to pro-Arab causes, particularly the Palestinian issue. We also appreciate the achievements of the previous three summits, and look forward to coordinating our collective positions towards issues on discussion at the International arena, notably, the fight against terrorism and extremism and the spread of the culture of peace and dialogue. Distinguished guests: The chances of developing the economic relations between our countries are promising, with good tidings to achieve development and prosperity of our countries, leading us to overcome the obstacles and constraints before them and encourage and support the flow of investments, exchange of experiences, technology transfer and indigenization and cooperation in all fields. Let me pay tribute to the good growth of the two-way trade volume and investment rates, since the first summit in Brasilia in 2005. Hopes are still attached to achieve more in this area. Hence, we call for the establishment of businessmen councils, and considering the signing of free trade, avoidance of double taxation and encouragement and protection of investments agreements between the countries of the two regions, which will provide a legal and regulatory framework to boost trade flows among them. In conclusion, I thank all you for coming, wishing this meeting good luck and all success'. Then President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissy of the Arab Republic of Egypt delivered a speech on behalf of the Arab side, in the Summit, blessing the convening of this summit, which came at an invitation from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The availability of political will and common ground of principles of issues and human values and cultural and economic principles will pave the way to move towards many prospects for cooperation between the Arab and Latin nations, he said, referring to the significant change in the volume of trade exchange between the two groups from only $ 6 billion in 2004 to over $ 33 billion, considering the current development in this field a real reflection of the cooperation between the two sides. He highlighted the need to live up to strengthen these relations and upgrade them to higher levels to achieve prosperity for the Arab as well as the South American. The Egyptian President explained that the Arab region is witnessing unprecedented dangerous developments, under which the countries of the region face real threats to their institutions and that some countries in the region face disintegration and division, threatening their well being. He went on to say that 'some parties have tried to impose their ideologies to change the identity of some Arab countries and groups, including Egypt, which would have, otherwise, fallen into the abyss of chaos and division. He stressed that his country is witnessing the launch of a process to attract foreign investments, calling for South American countries to take advantage of these opportunities to enter the Egyptian market to invest in it. He pointed out that the Palestinian issue is still the core of conflict in the Middle East, saying that ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the Palestinian State with Eastern Al-Quds as its capital would contribute to the stability and security in the region. At the end of the floor, he thanked the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for the hospitality, warm reception and good organization of the summit, wishing success for all. Then, the Vice President of the Republic of Uruguay Raul Sendic delivered the speech of the temporary presidency of the Union of South American countries during which he expressed on behalf of all the delegations of South American countries thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Saudi people for the warm reception and hospitality. The Vice President of Uruguay stressed that the importance of this summit of the Arab & South American countries summit in Riyadh, pointing out that South American countries considered the relationship with the Arab countries as a top priority. 'We would like to achieve the common goals set since the last summit held in Lima,' he said. He explained that there is a set of steps and common objectives that all of us should work to achieve. 'There are also common challenges we face, and we must work together in order to confront them. This Forum should be dynamic and we must take a set of practical steps in order to succeed in our mission,' he said. Then, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Brazil and the Coordinator of South American countries Mauro Luiz Iecker Vieira a speech in which he expressed his thanks to the Saudi government and people for their hospitality and warm reception. The minister highlighted the importance of the summit and boosting cooperation between the two sides. Afterwards, Secretary General of the Arab League Dr. Nabil Elaraby delivered speech in which he expressed sincere thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for hosting the summit. Dr. Nabil Elaraby discussed several issues facing the Arab region. On the Palestinian issue, he called for the provision of a special system of international protection for the Palestinian people and on Yemen, he stressed Arab support for Operation Determination Storm and Operation Renewal of Hope. Then, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon delivered a speech in which he expressed his thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for hosting the Summit stressing the strength of relations between the Arab and South American countries. The UN official discussed a number of issues including terrorism, Syria and Yemen, hailing Saudi humanitarian efforts in Yemen. Then, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Chairman of the Fourth Summit of Arab and South American countries, announced the start of the first closed-door working session. The delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the 4th Arab & South American countries summit is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier and Interior Minister. The Saudi delegation includes Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Second Deputy Premier and Defense Minister; Minister of State and Cabinet's member Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban; Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi; Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf; the Minister of State and Cabinet's member Dr. Essam bin Saad bin Said and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir. The opening session of the summit was attended by Prince Meqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a number of other princes, ministers and senior officials.
