The Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program was launched in Rabat by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), and the Moroccan minister-delegate for Industry, Trade, Investment and Digital Economy.
The Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program aims at enhancing trade relations, developing the business sector and promoting economic cooperation between Arab and African countries.
In a statement, the participants of the forum said the forum’s success, high level participation of both public and private sectors as well as trade organizations, constitute promising elements and indicators to the success of the program and the realization of its objectives.
The participants discussed recommendations for the enhancement of trade and economic cooperation between the Arab and African member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and highlighted the necessity for promoting trade.
Bandar Hajjar, president of IDB Group, said: “The bank managed to develop a program for exchanging knowledge and expertise, in order to facilitate the transfer of experiences between the member countries in the different sectors.”
He said the program had achieved great success in a short period of time.
Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC, said: “All Arab-African summits convened to date have called for the necessity of increasing trade and investment between the two regions. These summits have stressed that the focus should be on strengthening cooperation and building capabilities for encouraging trade and investment between the two regions.”
Sonbol said the trade volume between the Arab and African countries does not match the aspirations of the two regions.
According to the Islamic Center for Development of Trade, the share of the bilateral trade between the Arab and African countries equaled 2.1 percent in 2015.
The Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program will continue for three years and will have a special committee to evaluate its results and monitor its prospects.
The Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program aims at enhancing trade relations, developing the business sector and promoting economic cooperation between Arab and African countries.
In a statement, the participants of the forum said the forum’s success, high level participation of both public and private sectors as well as trade organizations, constitute promising elements and indicators to the success of the program and the realization of its objectives.
The participants discussed recommendations for the enhancement of trade and economic cooperation between the Arab and African member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and highlighted the necessity for promoting trade.
Bandar Hajjar, president of IDB Group, said: “The bank managed to develop a program for exchanging knowledge and expertise, in order to facilitate the transfer of experiences between the member countries in the different sectors.”
He said the program had achieved great success in a short period of time.
Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC, said: “All Arab-African summits convened to date have called for the necessity of increasing trade and investment between the two regions. These summits have stressed that the focus should be on strengthening cooperation and building capabilities for encouraging trade and investment between the two regions.”
Sonbol said the trade volume between the Arab and African countries does not match the aspirations of the two regions.
According to the Islamic Center for Development of Trade, the share of the bilateral trade between the Arab and African countries equaled 2.1 percent in 2015.
The Arab-Africa Trade Bridges Program will continue for three years and will have a special committee to evaluate its results and monitor its prospects.
