Cairo
His Excellency Ambassador Mohammed Khair Abdel Qader, Secretary-General of the Arab Federation for Digital Economy, delivered a speech during the meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Arab Parliament, in which he reviewed the Federation’s contribution to developing the “Arab Vision for the Digital Economy” as a guiding reference and strategic roadmap for Arab countries in the paths of digital transformation.
Ambassador Mohamed Khair explained that the Federation , in partnership with Arab parties and international institutions, worked on preparing and developing the vision to ensure its ability to be transformed into measurable executive programs, noting that its adoption at the level of Arab leaders at the 2022 Algiers Summit gave it political and institutional momentum that supports the opportunities to translate it into policies and legislation that support the digital economy in Arab countries.
In his speech, he mentioned that the vision includes a package of initiatives aimed at accelerating the building of a more integrated Arab digital economy, noting that the vision includes 50 initiatives to promote the Arab digital economy, which opens the way for Arab parliaments to play a pivotal role in transforming the initiatives into regulatory and legislative frameworks that support innovation and investment and facilitate digital business across borders.
On another front, Ambassador Mohammed Khair pointed out that the success of any Arab digital vision is linked to the existence of transparent measurement and monitoring tools, highlighting the importance of developing performance indicators as a means to identify gaps and direct resources towards the most impactful priorities, including the “Arab Digital Economy Index,” which is presented as one of the vision’s initiatives to monitor the digital and economic situation in Arab countries; several reports have been issued from it since 2018.
He also pointed out that the Federation is working within an institutional plan that updates the vision and links it to rapid global developments, which helps decision-makers to align national legislation with digital changes, and supports the paths of unifying concepts and regulatory definitions and exchanging experiences among Arab countries.
Ambassador Mohammed Khair – who previously served as Director of the Department of Arab Organizations and Federations at the League of Arab States – stressed that the media and awareness dimension represents a parallel pillar to institutional work, calling for the production of simplified and reliable Arabic content that explains to citizens and entrepreneurs the advantages of digital transformation and their rights and duties in digital transactions, and raises awareness of the opportunities that the digital economy provides to youth and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The speech concluded by emphasizing the importance of continued coordination between the Federation , the Arab Parliament, and relevant national bodies, in order to establish a supportive legislative environment and enhance the feasibility of implementing the Arab vision for the digital economy on the ground, which will lead to improved services, expanded digital job opportunities, and increased competitiveness of Arab economies in global markets.
