Second Arab – African Ministerial Meeting – 2013

The Arab Ministers of Agriculture and the Ministers of Agriculture of the African Union and some international, African and Arab organizations and concerned Arab federations held in Riyadh on 2 October 2013 the Second Arab-African Joint Ministerial Meeting on Agricultural Development and Food Security, chaired by the Minister of Agriculture Dr. Fahd Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ghanim, conference was held at King Faisal hall at the Intercontinental Hotel in Riyadh.

The meeting discussed the Arab agricultural investments in Africa, the joint Action plan for agricultural development and food security, also the challenges to implementation, the inter-Arab investment opportunities in the Arab African regions, And the proposed policies to activate the implementation of the Joint Action Plan and promote investment flows between the two regions.The Ministerial Meeting raised the resolutions and recommendations of the Arab-African Summit held in Kuwait in November 2013.

The meeting was held in Riyadh under the theme “Enhancing Afro-Arab Cooperation, through Supporting Investment Strategy in Agriculture and Food Security within the framework of the Joint Action Plan” organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in the presence of senior officials.

The Arab League reviewed the aspects of economic development in the Arab world in the last few years and the efforts of the League of Arab States to improve the investment climate in the Arab countries. Legislative, institutional, procedural and further improvements in the infrastructure to create an environment to attract foreign investment, which contributed to improving the investment climate in the Arab countries, Dr. Al-Ani also pointed out that despite the great economic potential available in the two regions, investment and trade between them is still below the required level, reaching 2010 at about 24.8 billion dollars, while the Turkish Arab trade in 2012 was about 55 Billion dollars, and the Arab-Chinese more than 190 billion dollars. The representative of the League of Arab States noted the importance of the topics to be addressed at the meeting, which would include discussing ways to enhance investment flows.

For more information about this event have a look on Final Report