São Paulo – This Wednesday (16), Lebanon prime-minister Saad Hariri (center, in the photo) launched the Arab Private Sector Forum, a conference promoted by the Union of Arab Chambers in Beirut. The meeting occurs ahead of the 4th Arab Summit for Economic and Social Development, to be conducted by the League of Arab States on Sunday (20), in the capital of Lebanon.
According to information from the website of the Union of Chambers, the event attracted more than 400 participants from 24 Arab and non-Arab countries, including Brazil. Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce president Rubens Hannun and interim CEO Tamer Mansour attended the event. The Brazilian Chamber is a member of the Union of Chambers.
Still according to the Union, the forum was led by Lebanon’s minister of Economy and Trade Raed Khoury, governor of Lebanon Central Bank Riad Salame, assistant secretary-general head of economic affairs at the league of Arab States Kamal Hassan Ali, president of the Federation of Lebanese Chambers, and the president of the Union itself, Mohamed Abdo Saeed.
According to Tamer Mansour, among the themes discussed were industry 4.0, digitalization of services, and female entrepreneurship. This Thursday (17), the forum is going to elaborate recommendations to be presented at the economic summit of the Arab League on January 20.
Considering the themes discussed, Mansour suggested that some of the recommendations will be the creation of a digital platform connecting all Arab chambers of commerce, “the seed to create a common Arab market;” and the removal of non-tariff barriers in the countries of the region. “These barriers are the biggest hindrance for dealings between Arab countries,” said Mansour.
He added that the panel about female entrepreneurship featured the Egyptian minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly, and the businesswoman Claudine Aoun, daughter and special advisor of Lebanon president Michel Aoun.
Also present in the event were Lebanon former president Michel Suleiman and former prime minister Fouad Siniora.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
