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Dr. Khaled Hanafi, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, participated to the 102nd Session of the Economic and Social Council meetings hosted by the League of Arab States in Cairo under the leadership of Iraq, and in presence of His Excellency Dr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Ministers, representatives of joint Arab institutions, as well as economic and academic personalities.
During his speech at the opening ceremony, H.E. Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed on the urge to strengthen economic cooperation among Arab countries by working on removing the obstacles facing the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the need to increase the volume of intra-Arab trade, affirming that Arabs and their leaderships are able to meet the challenges of development.” He pointed out "the importance of existence of ambitious economic and development plans adopted by many Arab Governments."
H.E. Aboul Gheit called upon "facing unemployment, acknowledging that the number of unemployed people in the Arab world reached 17 million and that the refugees’ crises, reconstruction and restoration of cities destroyed by terrorism and conflicts, require extraordinary efforts and comprehensive vision to transform the Arab region’s image from a region in crisis to a region with hope and achievements".

Source (Al-Hayat newspaper, Edited)