Arab -South America countries summit / press conference
2009-03-31
Doha, March 31 (QNA) - H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al Mahmoud said that the Doha Declaration issued by the 2nd Arab- South America countries Summit covered a number of elements pertaining to political coordination and economic, social and cultural cooperation between the Arab countries and south America''s countries. H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs noted that a number of political issues of interest to both sides including the Arab-Israeli conflicts and other issues were also taken up.
Speaking at joint press conference with Chile President and Chairperson of the South America''s countries'' Union and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, H.E. al Mahmoud said the declaration also highlighted the existing cultural relations between the two sides and joint cooperation in this domain including the establishment of the Arabic - South America Library and Studies Institute in Rabat aimed at enhancing the cultural relations.
On the economic side, H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs underlined that the declaration covered a number of economic matters saying that the economic cooperation between the two sides witnessed remarkable progress since the first Summit which was held in Brazil in 2005. H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said the volume of the trade exchange between Brazil and the Arab countries reached $21bn at the end of 2008 compared to $ 8,8bn in 2005 in addition to other countries such as Argentina where the volume of trade exchange with it reached around $5 million.
H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said the declaration touched on dialogue among civilizations, social, educational and information technology sides. The Doha declaration also covered mechanisms of activation of the relations between the two groups through holding a summit every three years and a ministerial meeting at the level of Foreign Ministers every two years and at experts level every six months and other meetings on the sidelines of the Conference, H.E. Minister said . H.E. the Minister said the the preparatory meeting held two days ago between the businessmen from the Arab countries and their counterparts from South America countries embodied the relations between the two sides. H.E. the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs also pointed out to the joint declation signed by the GCC states and the Mercosur group which include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay aimed at signing an agreement of free trade between the two groups. (QNA) AK
