A delegation from Arab Economic Unity Council, led by H.E. Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri, Advisor, Arab Economic Unity Council League of Arab States, met with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York, to unify the efforts of economic and social development in the Arab world.

This comes within the context of the League of Arab States and the Arab Economic Unity Council launching the first draft of the strategic Arab common vision for digital economy, the vision is product of the recommendations and the outcomes of the first conference of digital economy, held in Abu Dhabi last December. Where the strategic vision includes programs working on improving economic and social growth, with respect to digital economy.

The regional office of Arab countries, headquartered in New York, runs the regional programs and country offices for UNDP, distributed among 17 Arab countries, and the eighteenth office is located in the occupied land of Palestine. UNDP is considered UN’s network concerned with global development, it calls for change, and connecting the countries with knowledge and expertise, and resources with the objective of helping peoples to build better lives. UNDP activities in the Arab countries’ region focus on many fields, the most important of them is facing the most significant blockers of human development in the region, and achieving the factors of sustainable development for Arab peoples.

The strategic Arab common vision for digital economy plays its role improving the programs of economic development, and organizing and strengthening economic relationships among state members of the Arab League, and providing the best circumstances to flourish Arab countries, and to improve their economies and to guarantee their renaissance, and improving the standard of living.

The roles meet and complement each other within the prospects of development, and to face together the challenges, also to improve the opportunities for youth in the Arab region, as they are the pillar of sustainable development.

Mr. Mourad Wahba, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, Assistant Administrator of UNDP and Director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, expressed how he welcomes unifying the efforts within the framework of bringing new job opportunities for the Arab youth in the region, and to support plan 2030 for sustainable development. He commended that “the strategic Arab common vision for digital economy provides for us common plan and work schedules to handle some urgent challenges that face our Arab world, like poverty, unemployment, and political and economic instability in some Arab countries.”

He continued: “we support a lot of different projects across all the Arab countries, the achievements of those projects can be improved and sustained through one organization within the framework of the league of Arab states, to direct all the investments of infrastructure for all the Arab worlds as a whole. We also welcome this agreement, as we have the required expertise and capabilities to push the wheel of development, and to assist supporting the countries through sustainable development pathway.”

From his side, H.E. Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri, emphasized the importance of the partnership with UNDP, to ensure efforts coordination, and avoid their duplications, and to direct grants and investments to achieve the required impact, based on scientific and practical foundation, within the frameworks of sustainable development objectives, “as we have no choice today other than moving to digital economies, to raise our Arab societies, and to establish our natural role contributing to improving the growth of the world economy.”

The league of Arab states and the Arab economic unity council now coordinate the efforts with respective entities, including World Bank and UNDP, to hold coordination meetings to support programs of Arab digital economy.