CAIRO: The State of Kuwait is keen on bolstering Arab cooperation within the economic and social domains, matters, which would be addressed further during in the upcoming Arab summit, said an official Thursday. Speaking to KUNA at the conclusion of the regular ministerial session of the Arab economic and social council, Acting Undersecretary at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Finance Talal Al-Nemesh said that the meeting had touch on various topics to be included in the upcoming 31st Arab summit in Algeria scheduled next November.

Achieving Arab economic integration was a goal that the countries in the region were seeking, said the Kuwaiti official, who indicated that the concluded ministerial-level meeting had touched on various important topics including food security, agricultural development, and the Arab digitized economic vision amongst others. Resolutions from the 30th Arab summit and the outcomes of the fourth Arab social and economic development summit were also touched upon during the two-day meeting, he indicated. He noted that the findings of the meeting would be forwarded to the Arab summit in Algeria.

Meanwhile, the Arab League affirmed on Thursday its support for Joint Arabian economic and social work that aims to improve the lives of Arab people. This came in a speech by Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh in the extraordinary session of the economic and social board on the ministerial level, headed by Egypt. She pointed out to the suggested topics presented by ministerial councils and specialized Arab organizations in order to shed the light on them in the next summit, to show the priorities of the Arab economic and social development.

She stressed on the importance of strengthening the efforts of Member States to recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outcomes, in a way that also enables the continuation of the Arab development process and to achieve the plan of (Sustainable Development Plan 2030). The UN Environment Program (UNEP), the Arab League, and the Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (Cedare) launched on Thursday the Arabic version of the sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6).

The launch came during a celebration held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The event focused on the basic tenets of the GEO-6 and touched on the preparation for the upcoming seventh edition. Arab League's Director of Environment and Meteorology Dr Mahmoud Fathallah addressed the event and said that the translation of the report into the Arabic language was an important step to inform the region of future shifts in the environment and ways to prepare for them.

Fathallah affirmed that there was an increasing interest in environmental matters on a global scale, noting that the Arab region had reflected similar interest via Egypt taking on hosting duties of the Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in November 2022 and the UAE subsequent host of the conference in 2023.Policies and decisions on the environment should be linked to verified scientific facts, said the official who also called for managing natural resources to prevent environmental deterioration and boost sustainability.

On her part, Dr Yasmine Fouad-Egypt's Minister of Environment-said that the launch of the GEO-6 was important as an impartial document on the status of environment. The report's publishing is a step to address environmental challenges globally, said the minister who asked the world to cooperate to build a better future for the world's environment. About the GEO-6, the UNEP said the 2019-published report called on decision makers to take immediate action to address pressing environmental issues to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals as well as other Internationally Agreed Environment Goals, such as the Paris Agreement. - KUNA