Special to ag-IP-news Agency
CAIRO – The 15th Annual Conference of the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO), an affiliate with the League of Arab States held under the title the " Development Agenda in Arab Countries Beyond 2015” was opened under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, HE Dr. Nabil Al-Araby, and in the presence of HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, and participants representing 25 countries from around the world.
During the conference, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh presented a brief of an Arab comprehensive reform scheme prepared by Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation (TAG-Org) suggesting "An Arab vision in the wake of widespread unrest in the region". Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh underlined that the development agenda beyond 2015 is envisaged to usher in a new chapter of the prospective Arab development on the short run.
This vision can be characterized, according to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, by the need to overcome repercussions of the so-called Arab Spring, the achievement of development and creation of employment opportunities for future generations, the distribution of development dividends to all Arab countries and in equality to all societal segments, the adoption of an Arab strategy to guarantee a GDP growth rate higher than the population growth rate, and the creation of an Arab reconstruction bank to ensure steady growth in living standards, creation of jobs, and decrease of unemployment and underemployment rates, as well as ensuring stability of prices and balance in external payments.
He added that recent events in the Arab region over the past five years, since the beginning of unrest in the region under the so-called the "Arab Spring", have exacerbated crises already experienced by economies of our countries, which called for and prompted a reconsideration of the reform and development process, and a review of the economic structures and policies.`
He pointed out that what happened was a mere reflection of accumulated existing imbalances in the Arab economic conditions in general, especially during the last two decades, and mentioned that any realistic diagnosis of the Arab economic situation should be based on real reform opportunities and genuine address of challenges on strategic grounds.
He said "this vision, calling for real reform policies to provide a solid economic foundation and a distinctive competitive economic structure, emphasizes that this certainly cannot be realized without achieving economic integration and optimal use of material and human resources, and through pursuing a unified approach for joint Arab cooperation mechanisms that will ultimately lead to efficient economic openness’’.
He pointed out that the joint Arab action was affected by shifts and developments in the political scene in the Arab world over long decades, and ‘’pressures caused by political, economic and cultural dependence on the West have also resulted in increasing shortcomings in the Arab economy performance, adding, "persistent problems of poverty and unemployment have accentuated the need for assessment studies of the Arab labour market and its requirements, and the need for cooperation between concerned authorities to elaborate harmonization of policies between supply and demand."
He stressed that ramifications of poverty and unemployment problems are considered as "ticking bombs" and constitute one of the most serious aspects in the present and future challenges, not only on the economic level, but on the social, political and cultural levels as well.
Regarding the e-commerce sector, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh explained that given the rapid growth in this sector, it is necessary to strengthen this sector and to expand trade through enacting a package of legislations and regulatory laws, and through the elaboration of a formula for reconciling electronic systems existing in Arab countries.
He indicated that the reliance of Arab countries’ economic structures on small and medium industries, inevitably requires us to cooperate under joint strategies to support these industries, and to prevent their disappearance from the market, taking into consideration the role of such industries in providing job opportunities and reinforcing the economic situation.
He stressed the importance of concerted Arab efforts to promote and provide digital Arabic content on the Internet, and to encourage researchers and academics to use it, in addition to the role of universities and research and higher education centres to enrich it, which will enhance and encourage scientific research in the Arabic language.
On the side lines of the conference, a press conference was organised and attended by Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh, Dr. Nasser Al-Qahtani, Director General of the Arab Administrative Development Organization, and Dr. Mamdouh Abdel Hamid,Director of trade in services at the World Trade Organization.
The Conference was held in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank (WB), the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Transparency , the European Training Foundation (ETF), the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the Arab Thought Forum, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Ministry of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform in Egypt, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD), the Arab Women Organization (AWO), the German Association for International Cooperation (Giz), and Caserta Training Centre in Italy, as well as the Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA), and with the participation of experts and specialists from 25 Arab and foreign countries.