Since its establishment in 1951, the Union of Arab Chambers has played a leading role in promoting trade and investment cooperation between the Arab countries, by virtue of its position as the representative of the Arab private sector. The Union includes in its membership chambers and federations of chambers of commerce, industry, agriculture and services in all Arab countries, who intern represent the private sector in their countries. The Union is the first regional Arab non-governmental economic institution concerned with cooperation and integration among Arab countries, based on the awareness of Arab employers of their fundamental role in joint Arab economic and social development. The Union also represents the Arab private sector and expresses its voice at the Arab and international level. The Union is the united word of the Arab business community and its umbrella and mechanism to achieve the common objectives of development and economic integration and to strengthen its relations and its presence in the international economic arena. From this standpoint, the Union was the pioneer to call for the establishment of a common Arab market and to lay down the general principles that must be implemented in order to achieve economic unity among the Arab countries.