President of the Union of Arab Chambers and Chairman of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samir Nass, stressed the importance of adopting unified Arab economic visions in the context of the current global transformations, which contributes to enhancing opportunities for economic and commercial cooperation and reviving opportunities for development integration, stressing the necessity of strengthening the role of the private sector by helping it establish companies, and integrated commercial, investment, industrial, and agricultural institutions that generate job opportunities and support the economies of Arab countries. During his opening speech of the 134th Session of the Council of the Union of Arab Chambers, in the presence of the heads and members of the Arab Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in addition to the Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, that was hosted by the Bahrain Chamber, he expressed his aspiration with everyone to enhance joint cooperation in a way that would contribute to achieving the goals of the Union of Arab Chambers so that it can deal and cooperate with other economic blocs on equal grounds that guarantee the interests of all parties and contribute to achieving Arab economic prosperity and development.

Nass expressed his sincere condolences and sympathy to the Moroccan government, the Moroccan people, and all components of the business community in the Kingdom of Morocco for the victims of the horrific earthquake, saying: On behalf of all of you and in my own name, I extend my sincere condolences and sincere sympathy to the government and people of the sisterly Kingdom of Morocco and to the families of the victims of the devastating earthquake that struck a number of Moroccan cities. In this painful tragedy that is ours, we express our full solidarity with the brothers in the sisterly Kingdom of Morocco and our wishes for a speedy recovery for all those injured in this disaster. He also offered his condolences to the Libyan government for the victims of the hurricane that struck many Libyan cities. We appreciate the accession of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Egypt to the BRICS group, which strengthens Arab partnerships with international economic institutions.

The President of the Union of Arab Chambers revealed that the meetings of the 134th session resulted in a number of important recommendations, which came under the name “Bahrain Declaration for the Arab Private Sector,” and the heads of the Board of Directors of the Arab Chambers participated in drafting them in preparation for submitting them to Their Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies, Kings, Princes and Presidents of Arab countries. At the economic, development and social summit scheduled to be held in Nouakchott, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the “Bahrain Declaration” included the following decisions: 

1 - Redoubling efforts to achieve Arab economic and social integration, as it is a basic pillar for advancing joint Arab economic and social work and integration, and for achieving economic and social development for Arab countries, making them more capable of integrating into the global economy, and more flexible in dealing with international challenges.

2- Improving social conditions by supporting social security networks in Arab countries on common national and Arab foundations to address the repercussions of global economic crises.

3- Achieving the four freedoms that enhance Arab economic integration:

-Freedom of movement of individuals: by granting multiple long-term visas to businessmen through the Arab Chambers.

-Free movement of capital and ease of transfers.

-Freedom of movement of goods by removing non-customs obstacles: unifying specifications and standards and unifying registration procedures.

-Free movement of services by accelerating the approval of the Trade and Services Liberalization Agreement.

4- Developing an Arab strategy for digital transformation, circular and participatory economy, based on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, targeting the development of the legislative and technological digital infrastructure.

5- Implementing energy interconnection projects between Arab countries, and developing an Arab strategy for renewable energy.

6- Addressing the obstacles facing the transport sector, developing land, rail, and sea transport, and achieving the connection of land, sea, and air transport networks between Arab countries, as they are essential arteries for the movement of trade, tourism, investment and labor within the Arab region.

7- Public and private investment in equipping Arab hub ports and linking them to a network of sea lines between Arab countries and the world, and building logistical areas linked to industrial and agricultural production complexes that achieve added value, while supporting them with an Arab commodity stock exchange.

8- Adopting a joint Arab policy for education, aiming to reform education curricula and their outcomes in a way that suits the needs of the labor market and the requirements of the modern market, encouraging the Arab private sector to take initiatives to build distinguished scientific and research edifices, and establishing a joint Arab mechanism to support scientific research.

9- Coordinating the energies of joint Arab action institutions, Arab governments, and the private sector in order to protect Arab food and water security. Based on enhancing the flexibility of the agricultural sector, rationalizing water consumption, adopting modern agricultural technology and smart agriculture, developing logistical areas for food trade and investment, and launching new initiatives to encourage Arab youth to Entrepreneurship in digital agricultural innovations and in water resources development.

10- Develop a realistic and gradual strategy with a timetable to achieve economic integration, starting from the stage of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area to the stage of the customs union and then to the common market.

Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, stressed “the necessity of benefiting from the Kingdom of Bahrain’s presidency of the current session of the meetings of the Council of the Union of Arab Chambers. As it is one of the countries that embraces the Arab private sector and has a future vision for mechanisms to advance its tools so that it can play its role in the development process in the Arab region, and advance Arab economies in a comprehensive manner. Praising the professionalism of the Bahrain Chamber, represented on its Board of Directors, and its extensive professionalism in embracing this large number of Arab private sector leaders and prominent Arab economic figures.” He pointed out that "the Arab private sector's contribution to employment operations amounts to about 75 percent of the total employment in the Arab region and about 75 percent of the gross domestic product in the Arab countries." He described the meetings of the Union of Arab Chambers as strategic sessions that show the extent of the private sector’s contribution to developing the performance of the Arab economy in a different way to come up with recommendations that would advance Arab cooperation from a mere free trade agreement to a joint Arab market in an important step in the field of Arab economic integration, as well as working to implement the vocabulary of the revolution. The fourth industrial sector, digitization, digital payments between Arab countries, and interest in Arab food security.

In turn, a member of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Chamber, a member of the International Labor Organization, and an international expert in the business development sector, Ms. Sonia Janahi, launched a call for further coordination of positions and decisions between governments and Arab chambers of commerce to play an influential role in the decisions of the International Labor Organization and confront any decisions that contradict the customs and traditions of Arab and Islamic societies. Noting the importance of forming Arab and Islamic blocs and alliances and working with friendly countries and labor organizations to gain a stronger role within the International Labor Organization.

During her intervention before the Board of Directors of the Union of Arab Chambers in its 134th session, she reviewed a study prepared by the Strategic Thinking Group at the Bahrain Chamber under the title (Coordination Gaps) with the aim of harmonizing the workforce with the challenges of the economic future locally, regionally and internationally to create an effective strategic presence for the Chamber’s balanced opinion on economic files. Explaining The Arab world has an opportunity to engineer its economic presence in light of the changing weights of international powers, through enhancing coordination and integration, especially among the Arab chambers, where the ability to chart work trends in the private sector is a major tributary to development and stability.

Source (Union of Arab Chambers)