Riyadh: Arab and South American leaders converged on Saudi Arabia yesterday for a summit aiming to strengthen ties between the geographically distant but economically powerful regions.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is heading the UAE delegation to the fourth Arab-South American summit.
سعدت بالمشاركة بالقمة الرابعة لقادة الدول العربية ودول أمريكا الجنوبية بالرياض هناك فرص حقيقية للتعاون بين المنطقتين pic.twitter.com/1VlfQIIo6K— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 11, 2015
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon was expected to attend the opening in Riyadh of the Fourth Summit of South American-Arab Countries.
الملك سلمان بن عبدالعزيز لديه رؤية واضحة لتطوير العلاقات الاستراتيجية بين العالم العربي وبقية قارات العالم ومناطقه pic.twitter.com/eimgvAVfHN— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) November 11, 2015
State television showed the arrival of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, whose country belongs to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries along with Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter.
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Opec’s smallest member, also arrived. It was not immediately clear whether other Latin American heads of state would be present.
Among those who arrived included Omar Al Bashir of Sudan, Abdul Fattah Al Sissi of Egypt, Fouad Masum of Iraq, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Ahead of the two-day meeting, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ghandour said windows of cooperation have long existed “but haven’t been open enough to take advantage of the capabilities” of both regions.
For example, Sudan has land and water “that could enable it to become the Arab and South American food basket”.
The gatherings were an initiative of then Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country hosted the first summit.
The summit between the 22 Arab League members and 12 nations from South America was first held in 2005.
The gatherings were an initiative of then Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country hosted the first summit
Ahead of the summit, Arab League Secretary-General Nabeel Al Arabi told Kuwait’s Kuna news agency that “trade between both regions has amounted to $30 billion after it was no more than $6 billion in 2005.”
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir spoke of a “convergence of positions” between countries of the two regions on many issues and commended the Latin American nations’ “positive stance” towards the Palestinian question.
Al Jubeir told a pre-summit meeting that the previous three summits tried to develop trade, investment and transport links.
There remain “promising opportunities for collaboration”, he said, according to a written text of his Monday speech.
