AMMAN: Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf yesterday underlined the importance of boosting cooperation among Arab countries at this juncture so that they be able to “address the spillovers of the world financial crisis on Arab economies”.
“We are urged to take the suitable steps for shoring up the potential of our financial institutions and for developing our supervision on financial sectors,” Al-Assaf said in an address at the meeting of the pan-Arab economic institutions and lending agencies that kicked off at the Dead Sea resort yesterday.
“Arab countries look forward to see Arab financial establishments enhance their contribution to the Arab economic and social development and spur Arab economic integration,” he added.
Al-Assaf recalled that the Arab economic summit, which convened in Kuwait in January, had assigned “a major role to the pan-Arab financial institutions in the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the summit for the achievement of economic prosperity, social advancement and sustainable development of our states”.
He said that Saudi Arabia was coordinating efforts with other Arab states “to develop the performance of the joint Arab financial institutions and promote their role through the adoption of blueprints that seek to bolster their safety and strengthen their financial positions.
Opening the meeting, Acting Jordanian Prime Minister Nayef Al-Qadi urged participants to conduct “an urgent and comprehensive review of their strategies so that to be able to face the repercussions of the global financial crisis and devise efficient means for pan-Arab cooperation in the future”.
“The Arab countries, thanks to their huge financial and manpower resources, are capable of dealing with the requirements of the coming stage which witnesses the birth of a new world financial system,” he said.
Taking part in the two-day conference are Arab finance ministers, governors of central banks and heads of the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Arab Institution for Investment Guarantee. Meanwhile, the AFESD’s board of governors yesterday approved the establishment of a $2 billion special account for supporting projects of the Arab private sector.