Riyadh: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday took part along with leaders of Arab and South American countries in the opening session of the 4th Summit of Arab and South American countries.

The session is taking place in King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh. The Emir’s delegation Saudi Crown Prince First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Deputy Crown Prince Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud other ministers and heads of delegations and Arab civil society organisations also took part.

In his speech the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia praised previous sessions in Brazil Qatar and Peru and expressed pleasure at the support of South American countries to Arab causes led by their support to the Palestinian cause. He also expressed eagerness to coordinate efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism. He described the prospects of developing economic relations between Arab and South American countries as “promising” in terms of supporting flow of investments exchange of experiences technology transfer and cooperation in all fields.

He called for establishing a council for the business people of the two regions to consider the signing of free trade agreements and encourage investments which will provide a legal and regulatory framework to boost trade flows among them.

In his speech on behalf of the Arab said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said availability of political will common ground of human values and cultural and economic principles will pave the way to move towards many prospects for cooperation between the Arab and Latin nations. He referred to the significant change in the volume of trade between the two groups from only $6bn in 2004 to over $33bn considering current developments and said it reflects cooperation between both sides.

He highlighted the need to upgrade relations to higher levels to achieve prosperity for the Arab region and South America.

Al Sisi said the Arab region is witnessing unprecedented dangerous developments under which countries face threats to their institutions and some face disintegration and division threatening their own well being.

He said his country is witnessing the launch of a process to attract foreign investments and called on South American countries to take advantage of opportunities to invest in the Egyptian market. He said the Palestinian cause is the core of conflict in the Middle East and that ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the Palestinian State with Eastern Al Quds as its capital would contribute to regional stability and security.

The Emir separately met Sudanese President Field Marshal Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir Ecuador President Rafael Correa and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and reviewed relations between Qatar and their countries and the agenda of the summit.

QNA