Abu Dhabi

The Arab Federation for Digital Economy and the Federation of Arab Chambers signed a cooperation agreement during the activities of the Entrepreneurs Investment Summit, which was held in parallel with the 2023 Annual Investment Forum (AIM) held in Abu Dhabi.

The agreement was signed by His Excellency Dr. Khaled Hanafi, Secretary General of the Union of Arab Chambers, and His Excellency 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 Digital Economy, in the presence of representatives from both organizations, and a crowd of Arab economic figures.

The agreement defines the objectives and areas of cooperation and the roles of the concerned parties, and stresses the importance of cooperation to achieve a common Arab vision for the digital economy.

The agreement also aims to strengthen the Arab digital economy, enhance the reality of Arab trade exchange, and intra-Arab trade rates, which witnessed an increase of about 17.5% during 2021, recording $112.5 billion, compared to $95.8 in 2020. Achieving Arab food security by taking advantage of e-commerce and modern technology 

Under the agreement, the two parties are committed to expanding the scope of application of the Arab Free Trade Agreement and increasing the capabilities of e-commerce and modern technology in the Arab region, as the e-commerce market in the Middle East and North Africa is classified as the fastest growing in the world, and its value has reached $49 billion by the end of 2022. It is preferred 60 % of consumers in the Arab region today pay via digital channels when shopping online, up 20% from 2021. Companies in the Middle East and North Africa region witnessed a significant recovery in 2021, as the 100 most powerful companies recorded combined profits of $201.7 billion, compared to $91 billion. dollars in 2020, an increase of 121%.

Many areas of common interest for cooperation were identified, such as supporting Arab trade exchange activities, increasing Arab commodity exports, which increased by 37.4% to the world, recording $1,038.2 billion in 2021, compared to $755.6 billion in 2020, as well as an increase in total Arab commodity imports by 8.6 percent. %, registering $810.4 billion in 2021, compared to $746.3 billion in 2020. Coordinating the organization of conferences and events, disseminating information about each activity of common interest, organizing conferences and events on related topics, and promoting the activities and events of each organization for its members.

According to the agreement, the Federation of Arab Chambers will support the projects of the Arab Union for the digital economy, especially the Arab food market, one of the initiatives emanating from the Arab vision for the digital economy that was adopted at the thirty-first session of the Arab Summit held in Algiers on November 1 and 2, 2022, by promoting it with all members of the Arab Chambers of Commerce. . In addition to presenting studies related to Arab food security and inter-trade.

At the same time, the Arab Federation for Digital Economy will provide technical support to market users and Arab companies, in addition to providing advice and new innovative solutions to enhance Arab trade prosperity. And work to increase the volume of Arab merchandise trade with the world, which witnessed an increase of about 23.1 percent during 2021, recording 1848.6 billion dollars, compared to 1501.9 billion dollars in 2020.

It is noteworthy that the Federation of Arab Chambers is the first Arab economic institution operating at the non-governmental level that adopts the idea of ​​economic cooperation and integration between the Arab countries. It includes in its membership the chambers of commerce, industry, agriculture and their federations in 22 Arab countries that are members of the League of Arab States, and is considered a representative of the Arab private sector. The Union has played an important role in advancing commercial cooperation between the Arab countries on the commercial and investment levels. The Union was also the first to call for the establishment of the Arab Common Market and set general principles that must be implemented in order to achieve economic unity among the Arab countries.

The Union of Arab Chambers also supports governmental and private efforts aimed at integration and coordination between the economies of Arab countries in all sectors and commercial, industrial, agricultural, financial, investment, service and other sectors and economic activities.

The two parties value the role of the private sector and encourage participation and investment in future projects and cooperation in the implementation of joint projects in line with their goals in advancing economic development in the Arab countries.