Arab countries will call for an economic openness with international agencies to lure external investments in the upcoming summit, said Arab League Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, Dr. Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri. To be hosted by Kuwait on Jan. 19-20, the summit would constitute a “historic turning point for bolstering inter-Arab cooperation.” The event will open the door wide for pressing ahead with inter-Arab economic integration, paving the way for openness with the global economy, in addition to luring investments from the non-Arab world, he said. He confirmed that the summit would address a host common issues for the Arabs, such as the establishment of the common custom union, implementation of the Arab accord for services and granting businessmen a special card that allows them to move freely across the borders of the Arab states. The summiteers will also discuss the Arab-Arab economic merger, establishing a common railway network, a naval navigation network, education, health, poverty, unemployment, food security and climatic changes. Some of the major issues to be examined by the conferees will be activation of previously crafted accords among the Arab states, said Al-Tuwaijri. He underscored the necessity of tackling snags obstructing implementation of some of the accords, namely custom obstacles and finalizing specification of the products origin criterion. Arab states should not pursue the process of establishing the greater trade zone “because it won't be useful,” Al-Tuwaijri said, noting that the Arab countries should rather seek to establish what he termed “a custom wall to face the world as a bloc.” Reaffirming the necessity to pursue the efforts at the tariffs level to establish the Arab custom union, he said the custom union is necessary to boost the inter-Arab trade, and urged for diversifying the inter-Arab investments to involve not only real estate and entertainment complexes' projects, but also the industries, notably small and medium crafts. Al-Tuwaijri called on the Arab states to follow suit of the European Union, noting that the Europeans succeeded in realizing unification at various levels despite some political disputes and past struggles. He reiterated that the impact of global financial crisis on the Arab economies was limited.
