Abu Dhabi

The Arab Federation for the Digital Economy, member of the Executive Office of the Forum of Specific and Specialized Arab Federations at the League of Arab States, held a coordination meeting headed by His Excellency Dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Khouri, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and in the presence of His Excellency Engineer Atef Helmy, Chairman of the General Assembly, His Excellency Minister Amr Salem, Minister of Foreign Trade and former Minister of Communications and Technology of the Syrian Arab Republic, and His Excellency Dr. Hani Mohamed, former Minister of Communications and Information Technology of the Arab Republic of Egypt, His Excellency Ruqaya Al Derham, Secretary of State to the Minister of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy, formerly in charge of Foreign Trade in the Kingdom of Morocco, His Excellency Major General Yahya bin Zahem, and Dr. Muhammad Al-Qarsh – Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation – Egypt, His Excellency Abdullah Al-Jabri, His Excellency Laila Al-Jassim, and His Excellency Ambassador Muhammad Khair Abdel Qader – Secretary General of the Arab Federation for the Digital Economy.

The meeting reviewed the results of feasibility studies and the measures taken by the Union to activate the Arab Food Market platform, as it is the first Arab platform for food trade between export and import companies, and to facilitate trade exchange between Arab countries and global markets, which includes providing basic support services for export transactions, which include “transportation – “Logistics services – warehousing – inspection, testing and classification – issuing certificates – financing and lending – insurance – customs clearance.” Implementation mechanisms also depend on blockchain technology, through which financial dues can be transferred according to the agreed upon contracting mechanism and guaranteed by the platform through an intermediary bank account that allows… By paying the amounts according to the completion of the work and approvals of the system, they are transferred between the digital wallets from the importer to the exporter.

The importance of developing the food security sector in the Arab region was also discussed, and how to use technology and innovation to display the products of exporters and importers on the platform, with the aim of achieving digital transformation, promoting sustainable development, enhancing digital integration, and providing great economic and development opportunities in the Arab region, as the parties expressed their welcome for joint cooperation.

The meeting also included another presentation on the Arab Digital University project, which will work as an integrated digital platform for education and training to provide digital educational content to accredited Arab universities, institutes and training centers at low costs and in different languages ​​via the Internet in accordance with international best practices. The platform will serve as an important and new tool for disseminating science and knowledge to cover the Middle East region. North Africa and West African countries, where the Assistant Secretary-General of the Union announced the agreement with the Association of Arab Universities to allocate the pilot phase for the benefit of Gaza and Sudan of the digital platform in cooperation with the platform’s technological partner.

The digital education platform, in cooperation with the Association of Arab Universities and the Arab Administrative Development Organization, works to enhance continuing education and contribute to achieving sustainable development goals related to human development, through educational paths designed to meet the needs of the labor market, raise the capabilities of university students and graduates, and employees of the Arab world, and support digital transformation in Arab university and educational institutions.

The attendees praised the two projects and the members of the Board of Directors stressed the importance of joint investment from Arab parties, whether governmental or private, in both projects, in confirmation of the principle of joint Arab action and in order to advance these two projects to their deserved regional dimensions.