Source:

Emirates News Agency

Dubai

Today, in Dubai, the final consultative meetings for the Arab strategy for communications and information systems team formed by representatives of Arab countries, and expert teams that include a group of Arab and international organizations who contributed to the preparation of the Arab Digital Agenda document, began in Dubai and will continue until October 27 at the Mohammed bin Rashid College  The Government Administration in Dubai, organized by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States.

In this context, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, Assistant Secretary of the League of Arab States, confirmed that the Arab Digital Agenda project is being sponsored by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, and through strategic partnership and cooperation with the United Nations (ESCWA), as it is planned to present this digital agenda soon to the Council Arab Ministers of Communications and Information Technology.

He pointed out that the world today is progressing very quickly amidst many strategic challenges facing it in general and threatening its stability, especially the developing countries, including the Arab countries. He explained that technical progress, especially in the digital field, stands among the most important opportunities available to achieve economic growth and promises to build and own one of the pillars of strength in this era, which should not be overlooked as an Arab strategic priority.

Ambassador Zaki also valued the role of the Arab Federation for the Digital Economy, as it is a qualitative union specialized in the digital economy, especially that the Arab vision of the digital economy is one of the main inputs to the Arab digital agenda, especially the digital economy axis, which is one of the six axes of the Arab digital agenda.

For his part, Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri, Advisor to the Council of Arab Economic Unity and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Federation for the Digital Economy, stressed the pivotal role of the Union in this strategic Arab project, and explained that the Union is implementing a set of joint initiatives between the Arab Vision for the Digital Economy and the Arab Digital Agenda, including The Arab platform for companies and institutions working within the telecommunications, information systems and smart services sector. The platform aims to establish an information base in accordance with the best standards for technological business activities as defined by the (ISIC4) standard approved by the United Nations. In parallel, the Union will launch a study aimed at providing a strategic vision to stimulate positive and effective investment. In the fields of information technology and digital economy in the Arab region.

He added that the federation is currently developing various initiatives to encourage e-commerce platforms that provide services to companies, especially small and medium ones, and support export activities.

On the other hand, Ambassador Khaled Wali, Director of the Communications and Information Technology Development Department, confirmed that this session, held in Dubai, includes extensive consultative talks to which many specialists from relevant stakeholders in the public and private sectors were invited, noting that the work of the Arab Digital Agenda and the Global Arab Digital Cooperation Forum It aims to identify the views of the various stakeholders on the Arab digital agenda, the mechanisms for its implementation, and the proposed partnership framework to activate it. These meetings will also cover the points of interconnection between the Arab digital agenda and global tracks such as the Global Internet Governance Forum, the World Summit on the Information Society, and digital cooperation processes.

The work of this course will be held under the supervision and management of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States with the Executive Secretariat (ESCWA) in partnership with the Arab Federation for the Digital Economy, the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government in the UAE, and the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government.

Representatives of Arab countries and a number of international organizations, most notably the Arab Regional Office of the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, the World Health Organization – Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Arab Organization for Communication and Information Technology (ECTOA), the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO), the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport.

Dr. Ayman El-Sherbiny, Director of Information and Communication Technology Policies, Digital Development and Digital Cooperation at ESCWA, said that the work of this session is being conducted under the supervision and management of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States with the Executive Secretariat of ESCWA in partnership with the Arab Union for Digital Economy, the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government in the United Arab Emirates United, and the Mohammed bin Rashid College of Government.

He said that these events come in light of the keenness and emphasis on the importance of joint Arab action, inter-meetings and consultative meetings to enhance these Arab efforts, especially in the technical and digital fields.

The meeting sessions opened with welcoming speeches from the organizing bodies from (ESCWA), the League of Arab States and the Arab Union for the Digital Economy, and the definition of the meeting schedule.

Then, Eng. Abdul Rahman Al Marzouqi, Director of Digital Policies at the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Digital Government, spoke to all the attendees, thanking the participants and organizers from the regional authorities, in addition to the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government for hosting. He said: We worked side by side through specialized technical teams, and we are going through today. In an ideal stage with the presence of globalization and multinational companies in the region and these experiences, so we can take advantage of this opportunity in developing the strategies of the Arab digital economy.

He pointed out that there are great energies and real opportunities in the Arab world, and these meetings constitute a real support and support for the discussions they contain from this constellation, which represents a summary of knowledge and a qualitative addition to efforts to support the Arab digital economy towards more successes.