JEDDAH, 30 October 2006 — Seventeen Arab ministers and a large number of businessmen and experts will take part in the 9th Arab Conference for Mineral Resources, to be opened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah at Jeddah Hilton today.
The conference, to be attended by nearly 1,000 delegates including about 100 experts from within and outside the Kingdom, aims at highlighting the importance of mineral resources in the Arab world and strengthening Arab cooperation to exploit these vital resources.
Foreign experts from Malaysia, Germany, France, Yemen, Egypt, the United Kingdom, the United States, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine and Jordan will attend. Delegates from the Arab Industrial Development and Mining Organization, the Arab Mining Company and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will also take part in the three-day conference.
“The conference will highlight the status of Arab mineral resources and the requirements for its development,” said the organizers. “It also aims at creating a suitable atmosphere to attract investment and encouraging cooperation in the fields of exploration, research, development and maintaining the environment,” they said.
A number of issues will come up at the conference, especially the issue of enhancing coordination among Arab officials and experts, they said, adding that the conference would boost Arab partnership in mining projects.
The organizing committee said it had completed all preparations to convene the conference.
Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi said the conference would be a unique event compared to the previous ones as it will bring together 17 Arab ministers to hold consultations on how to coordinate efforts to strengthen the sector.
“The main objective of this forum is to encourage investment in the mineral sector in order to capitalize on Arab minerals, and to focus on the importance of this sector for Arab economic development,” Naimi said.
“We hope that the conference would lead to strengthening cooperation among the Arab ministries of mineral resources in a way that would attract more domestic and foreign investment to the sector,” he added.
