Faisal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs welcomed the ministers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which is happy to host the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in its third session, expressing his thanks to the Foreign Minister of Egypt Mohammed Kamel Amr for the efforts exerted by his country during its presidency of the summit in its second session. The Prince also thanked Arab League Secretary General, Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi and the League's officials for their efforts to follow up the results of the two previous summits and for what they have done to coordinate this summit. Prince Saud Al-Faisal said, "Our Arab world has witnessed during the past two years a number of changes and challenges, although they have taken apparent political forms, but their real causes cannot be unmistakable in any case; we cannot overlook their developmental aspects or ignore aspirations which have been looking forward by our Arab people and their hopes to a bright present and prosperous future". He added, " With this in mind, our meeting should not be traditional because it addresses the most important topics and key issues that touch the lives of our peoples, which require upgrading our decisions to the levels of the aspirations of our peoples and leaders." The Prince added that dealing with the economic and social development in the Arab world requires addressing them from the comprehensive perspectives, covering all aspects which require to activate and follow up the march of Arab economic integration and comprehensive and accurate review of what have already taken of decisions at the two previous summits to be an essential springboard to proceed with the construction and achieve the desired goals. He also asserted the necessity of credibility and seriousness of the works to be able to overcome what may obstruct the joint Arab action of obstacles and barriers, noting in this regard the efforts to complete the requirements for the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone, in addition to completing the rest of the requirements of the Customs Union in accordance with the agreed time frame to achieve its full application in 2015. --More
