Arab countries should expedite unifying quality standards and keep pace with the changes taking place in the world, said Saudi Minister of Commerce Abdullah Zainal Alireza. Alireza's comments came in his keynote speech at a workshop in Riyadh that marked the Arab Standards Day late on Tuesday. The workshop, organized under the theme “Standards and Quality” at the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) in Riyadh, was attended by representatives of standards and specifications organizations from 15 Arab countries. “We call upon standards organizations in the Arab countries to unify their efforts expeditiously and issue as many quality standards as possible, to be in line with international quality standards,” said Alireza, who is also Chairman of SASO. The minister urged Arab industrialists to cooperate and comply with their respective countries' standards regulations, and to adopt the highest international quality standards, saying that this is of utmost importance for inter-Arab trade. “We are in the age of globalization,” he said, “and hence required to keep pace with the fast-changing scenes in the international arena.” He said there is a need for upgrading the skills of manpower in national laboratories and take on better practices that would enable Arab economies to compete with others in the world. He said this could be done through the effective enforcement of laws related to unifying standards, as well as recognizing the difficulties that Arab countries face. Speaking on the occasion, Nabil Molla, SASO's general manager, hoped the Arab Standards Organization will exert efforts to unify standards across Arab counties during the next five years. SASO has adopted numerous international standards over the past two years. “We have signed deals and agreements with Turkey, Malaysia and other Arab countries to protect consumers from any fraudulent practices,” said Molla. He said coordinated efforts in unifying standards among Arab countries would go a long way in realizing a common free trade market “that has been a dream for quite some time now.” __
