The Arab League's (AL) General Secretariat and the African Union (AU) Commission opened Sunday a series of meetings to discuss the implementation of the economic decisions taken at the Arab-African Summit which was held in Equatorial Guinea November 2016.

Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs Kamal Hassan Ali said that this meeting comes as a follow-up to the consultative meeting which was held two weeks ago between the AL and AU commission.

The meetings, which will take place over three days, discuss the mechanism for funding joint projects between the two sides, and develop a vision, in cooperation with Arab and African finance institutions, to conduct feasibility studies of the planned projects.

Ali emphasized the importance of cooperation and regional integration between Arab and African countries, calling for an Arab-African free trade zone.

Ali pointed out that providing a precise mechanism for funding joint projects is the main impediment that stands in the way of promoting cooperation between the Arab world and Africa.

The Arab-African Summit has been keen on devising a mechanism for future projects between Arabs and Africans, Ali stated.

Source : Mena