CAIRO – The ‘Forum on Boosting
Economic Integration among Arab Countries’, organized by the Arab
Administrative Development Organization (ARADO) and the Arab Parliament has
started in Cairo.

In his keynote address, HE Dr.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global
(TAG.Global), tackled several important issues regionally and globally,
highlighting the role technology plays in increasing the knowledge and
awareness of Arab citizens.  

That was in the presence of
Speaker of the Arab Parliament Mr. Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Assoumi, ARADO
General Director Mr. Nasser Al Hatlan Al- Qahtani, Egypt’s Minister of Supply and Internal Trade, Dr.
Ali Moselhi, Egypt’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohammad Maait, Sudan’s
Minister of Trade and Supply, Dr. Amal Saleh Saad, and the Secretary-General of
the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi. Other attendees included the President
of the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development, Mr. Mohamed
bin Obaid Al Mazrooei, and Former
Director of Trade in Services and Investment Division of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), Dr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh.

Furthermore, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh
affirmed the importance of Arab solidarity, saying that the Arab states should
maintain self-sufficiency production in three main areas: food, medicine and
technology.

He also noted that giving much
attention to infrastructure is the right path the Arab countries should take,
as has been implemented in Egypt. “Pleasing the peoples is a negative thinking.
If you please the peoples at the expense of the infrastructure, this will lead
to many problems in the future.” Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh said, adding: “What President
Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is doing needs courage and future perspective which many
leaders lack. The President elevated the Egyptian economy to reach the seventh
rank by 2030 based on reports issued by American research centers ,which I saw
 and are available for everyone to check. I assure you that Egypt will
even become in the 6^th place not 7^th ahead of Turkey,
based on statistics and figures, not predictions.”

At the end of the opening
session, Speaker of the Arab Parliament Mr. Al-Assoumi, and ARADO General
Director Mr. Al- Qahtani, presented the Forum Shield to Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh in
recognition of his continuous efforts and active participation.