The Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafy noted that the “Arab-European cooperation is based on common interests, a long history, neighborhood and geographical proximity, as the two sides succeeded in weaving a solid network of institutional and societal relations,” stressing that “the European Union is at the forefront of trading partners for the countries of the Arab world and the year 2019 ranked fifth in terms of export after China, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, 6.3% of the total imports of the European Union. In addition, the Arab world is the fourth largest importer from the European Union after China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, accounting for 7.9% of the total EU exports.
Hanafy's words came during his speech at the symposium organized by the Belgian-Luxembourgish Arab Chamber of Commerce within the framework of the Belgian Investment Encouragement and Exports Exhibition, titled “Strengthening the Arab-European Partnership after the Covid-19 Crisis,” where he stressed that “Arab-European cooperation has enormous potentials in light of relations. The European Union and the Arab countries represent two of the largest economic groups in the world. However, despite the wide-ranging neighborhood and relations, only a limited part of these energies is achieved, which requires a serious review of joint cooperation so that the partnership takes its natural dimensions that are beneficial for both sides."
He added: "The European Union was previously the first trading partner of the Arab world, but this partnership has retreated greatly in favor of the Far East countries and the Americas due to restrictions and obstacles imposed on Arab exports and the difficult conditions of the rules of origin, which calls for rethinking so that the partnership takes its deserved and complementary dimensions."
Hanafy stressed that "looking at relations from the traditional point of view remains deficient in light of the historical transformation brought about by the wonderful industrial revolution and the change in the nature of life and the economy, as well as the unprecedented repercussions caused by the Corona pandemic. We live today in extremely difficult and challenging conditions and constitute a major crossroads of what will be the future in our region, and we have to embody our common desire to elevate the path of our relations to higher levels than they are currently by setting common standards aimed at achieving sustainable development with the participation of the public and private sectors based on developing transport and port logistics to strengthen the connection of the networks of sea and land roads, railways, and supply chains and the added values, as well as the enormous potential for digital transformation. "
He also considered that "embodying this cooperation on the ground is through developing an integrated holistic vision for the future project we want for our space, based on a rational arrangement of priorities, a solid drawing of realistic goals, and a participatory and proactive approach that adopts flexible and sophisticated working mechanisms. We need an agenda of new joint cooperation that goes beyond just facing the current crises, but rather involves joint digital projects in various vital sectors, from renewable energy to technology, to tourism and trade."
He continued: "Several days ago, we discussed in a high-level meeting of joint Arab action institutions under the umbrella of the Arab League, a set of important proposals to promote digital transformation in the Arab world, and dealt with establishing an observatory to follow up and confront disasters, including the Corona pandemic, and mechanisms to protect against piracy, and many other proposals for establishing digital companies at the age of specialized Arab organizations and federations and the Arab private sector aiming to establish an Arab digital university, an academy for scientific innovation, a platform for Arab e-commerce, a research database for innovation and a platform for quality in education and others. The Union of Arab Chambers also launched an initiative for digital transformation through a partnership with the Union of Arab Banks in Dubai in 2020 which includes information platforms that specialize in electronic transformation processes, commercial, and transport operations, as well as with the UNIDO-Bahrain organization through programs to support innovation, youth, and small and medium enterprises. We need to do Arab-European cooperation in all these areas, especially since Europe has made great strides in the field of the digital revolution, and it has even started mainly from it."
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
