JB says Africa-Arab summit to improve well-being of people
Malawi President Joyce Banda has said she hoped the 3rd Africa-Arab Summit which opened on Tuesday (November 19) in Kuwait would achieve “positive results” that would improve well-being of the Arab and African people.
The 3rd Africa-Arab Summit to be chaired throughout by Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, is being held under the theme “Partners in Development and Investment.”
Amir of Kuwait said in his opening speech that the selection of the theme reflects “our awareness of the importance of economic cooperation”.
Said the Kuwaiti leader in his opening speech: “We are all required to devise the guidelines for our future work that shall be based on a concept of genuine partnership. It is neither acceptable nor an embodiment of the desired partnership, that our countries provide support from their part, and not be met with interaction and reciprocity from the other side; therefore integration becomes imperative to embody genuine partnership”.
According to State House Press Officer Tusekele Mwanyongo, the Malawi President is among over 60 leaders from the two regions attending the summit at the invitation of the Kuwaiti Government.
Commenting on the Summit, President Banda said:“ I am delighted to be here considering that the main objective of this august gathering is to improve well-being of people’s in the African and Arab regions.
“The year’s summit will focus on, ‘Partners in Development and Investment’ and aims to solidify Afro-Arab cooperation in politics, the economy, investments and partnerships, agricultural development, food, commercial exchange, infrastructure and immigration. This resonates well with my personal aspirations as a leader and the people of Malawi.”
Libya hosted the 2nd Africa-Arab Summit in Libya in 2010 and announced that Kuwait would host the next meeting. The 3rd Africa-Arab Summit will result in a Kuwait Declaration and a declaration on Palestine.
The leaders will also look into recommendations for the African-Arab Plan of Action for the years 2011-16, rationalizing mechanisms of implementing and following up the joint Arab-African partnership, in addition to the 2nd meeting of African and Arab ministers of agriculture regarding food security that was held in Riyadh on October 2, 2013.
The Summit would also touch upon cooperation over immigration, assess performance of the Arab-African cultural institute as well as the establishment of Arab-Africa mechanisms to finance joint projects and activities. The meeting will also look into recommendations and results of the Arab-Africa Forum that was held in Kuwait on November 11, 2013.
