is Excellency the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi received in Cairo yesterday HE Mr. Hamdi Tabbaa, President of the Federation of Arab Businessmen and his accompanying delegation, composed of Engineer Hussein Sabour Vice President of the of the Federation and president of the Egyptian Businessmen Association and HE Mr. Thabet Al-Taher Secretary General of the Federation.
During the meeting, which took about an hour they reviewed the role of the Federation of Arab Businessmen in the process of Arab economic and social development and his role in the preparation to the third economic and development Summit to be held in Riyadh at a later time.
During his meeting with the Secretary General of the Arab League and in the presence of Assistant Secretary-General of the League for Economic Affairs, Dr. Mohammed Tuwaijri, HE Tabbaa expressed his appreciation for the steps taken by the League of Arab States to integrate the activities of the Arab business community in the system of joint Arab economic cooperation which is supervised by the League of Arab States, especially that relating to preparatory works of the Arab Economic summits. Mr. Tabbaa showed his hope that the Federation of Arab businessmen should be given the opportunity to contribute in the preparations taking place for the Third Economic Summit to be held in Riyadh, especially in these circumstances where Arab countries are facing difficult economic conditions carrying with it adverse social impacts affecting all segments of society, particularly the two issues of increasing rates of poverty and unemployment.

Mr. Tabbaa mentioned that the Federation with its members in the largest 15 Arab countries can, through its mechanisms and cooperation with business organizations in those countries, provide positive contributions on the private sector level in the stride of Arab economic and social development and work on the implementing programs of Arab economic cooperation and integration in collaboration with the Arab public sector in a way serving the interests of the nation as well as the concerns of Arab citizens. Also, Mr. Tabbaa said that the fund of financing small and medium enterprises which capital has been set to the amount of (2) billion dollars in Kuwait’s First Economic Summit has not yet been activated. Add to this, the Arab private sector organizations, are not represented in the mechanisms of the Fund’s lending. In this regard, the Federation of Arab Businessmen had prepared a study on mechanisms of action of the fund for nearly three years.
For his part, the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Dr. Nabil Al Arabi emphasized on the importance of the increasing role of the private sector in contributing to the preparations for the Arab economic summits, in activities of the Arab Economic and Social Council and in conferences organized by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab states such as conferences of Arab Chinese, Arab Indian, Arab Turkish, Arab Japanese and Arab Latin American businessmen, in which the Federation of Arab Businessmen participates periodically in organizing such conferences in cooperation with the League of Arab States, in addition to its mobility of Arab businessmen to participate in these conferences.
This meeting of the President of the Federation of Arab Businessmen with HE Secretary General of the Arab League was an opportunity to discussing the Arab economic affairs in general as part of the required update and modernization of bodies and entities of the League Arab States and the organizations working in the economic realm under its umbrella. The discussion also dealt with paving the way for the Arab private sector with its available of his capacities and expertise to perform a greater role in the framework of the activities of the Arab League.