The Arab economic summit to be held in Kuwait next January is an initiative of goodness by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, an official said.

Head of the economic department at the Foreign Ministry Ambassador Sheikh Ali Al-Sabah said the summit would increase the inter-Arab intimate relations.

He pointed out that His Highness the Amir and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proposed the idea of holding such a summit, to be attended by all Arab countries and a number of international organizations like the International Monetary Fund.

In addition, technical programs are prepared by a national Kuwaiti committee that is headed by the Finance minister and that includes representatives of the Finance, Foreign, and Commerce ministries and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).

He said that participants in the summit will discuss improving the financial status of Arab people, combating poverty by issuing new laws, developing transportation, tourism, and production, increasing trade among Arab countries, easing the transfer of information, increasing cooperation in the field of energy, building balanced economic relations with economic blocs, and developing peaceful uses for nuclear energy in the process of sustainable development.

He added that they will also discuss a joint strategy for Arab economic and social work, the joint defense treaty, and issues related to economic cooperation, encouraging joint Arab investments and scientific research, education, discrimination against women, rights of people of special needs, health care, environment protection, combating traditional and new contagious diseases and other diseases like the AIDS and malaria, and raising the participation of the private sector in Arab economic and social work.

He said one of the main topics to be discussed is the role of the private sector in the development of the Arab world.

The private sector would help in finding many new job opportunities through the building residential areas, malls, markets, and factories.

The official said the decision of holding the conference in Kuwait was taken during the regular Arab summit in Riyadh in March 2007.

The official noted that the summit would be a big economic event that would be preceded by "important" lectures, meetings, and forums like the meeting of Arab chambers of commerce The success of the summit will be success for everyone, he emphasized.

Upcoming Arab economic summit "distinct in its style and approach" Al-Jarralh

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said that the economic summit which will be hosted by the State of Kuwait will be distinct in its style and approach, and would cover all topics and joint projects for the Arab States.

Al-Jarallah said in a statement to reporters that the summit will have good and tangible economic good returns at the level of the Arab citizen.

He stressed that the State of Kuwait is looking forward to this two-day summit and hoped it achieves the desired results.

He said that Kuwait continues preparations for the summit, adding that committees had been formed including the Supreme Preparatory Committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Faisal al-Hajji in cooperation with the Coordinator at the General Secretariat of the Arab League Dr. Mervat Al-Talawy.

Al-Jarallah said that concerned authorities have made long strides towards preparations for the upcoming summit in terms of topics to be discussed as well as logistics preparations.

Arab economic summit of Kuwait to be "pivotal step"  Egyptian daily

The Arab Economic Social and Development Summit, to be held in Kuwait, will be pivotal to the Arab joint action in economic, commercial and investment domains, an Egyptian daily said.

The summit, jointly conceived by Egypt and Kuwait, will take place amidst the global financial meltdown which affected almost all parts of the world, Al-Akhbar said in its editorial.

The Arab countries need to make more concerted efforts to tackle the impacts of the international financial crisis on their economies and ensure the smooth implementation of their development plans.

The coming summit of Kuwait is expected to explore ways to enhance the bilateral trade between, and joint investments by the Arab countries.

It will seek ways to promote economic growth rates of the Arab countries and encourage the Arab businesspeople and investors to venture into large-scale development projects, the editorial expects.

Egypt has taken "important steps" to attract more Arab investments in order to shore up its economy and minimize the impacts of the world financial crisis on the economy.

Arab economic integration to top agenda of ‘Summit’

Arab economic integration should get top spot at the forthcoming Arab economic summit, said a Kuwaiti official. Undersecretary of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance Khalifa Hamada said following his chairing a meeting for the committee preparing ahead for the summit that the officials representing their ministries of finance at the meeting agreed that the summit should deal with topics close to the heart of the Arab citizen. Up to 300 draft projects have been submitted by Arab cabinets and specialized organizations to the Arab League Secretariat to be turned over to the summit for perusal, said Hamada. Quite a few of them deal with pan-Arab ambitions in linking the Arab world via power grids, railway networks, and super highways, he said.

The committee is made of six countries: Kuwait, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Qatar in addition to the Arab League.