The first session of the Forum on the Economy and Arab Cooperation with the Central Asian States and the Republic of Azerbaijan was concluded today in Riyadh. The forum, which carried the title of Prospects for Trade and Investment, was hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and was inaugurated today by Prince Saud Al -Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The session issued the Riyadh Declaration, which stated that the session was attended by Arab foreign, finance and economy ministers, Secretary General of the Arab League Dr. Nabil Elaraby, foreign, finance and economy ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Republic of Kazakhstan in addition to Arab business organizations and their counterparts in Central Asia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Participants confirmed their intention to work on the development of economic relations and partnership between the two parties to contribute to the development and well-being and contribute to the establishment of peace and stability in their regions. The participants expressed their appreciation to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for hosting the first session of the forum in the kingdom as being the party behind the initiative to propose cooperation and promotion of Arab relations with the countries of Central Asia and the Republic of Azerbaijan in the areas of development and economic development and strive to be expanded to include the political, social and cultural fields. Moreover, the participants stressed the depth of historical, religious and cultural relations binding them. They also stressed the prospects of economic cooperation and the advantages enjoyed by the Arab countries and the Central Asian Republics and the Republic of Azerbaijan starting with their rich natural resources to the promising investment opportunities of food production, power generation and petrochemical, mining and tourism industries. The participants also confirmed the importance of adopting the language of dialogue and openness to the other and constructive engagement as a way to achieve peace, security and stability in their regions and the world and called for their countries to strengthen diplomatic and political presence among them. The participants welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Arab League and the countries of Central Asia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and looked forward to making this MOC as a start to open new horizons for cooperation between them in various fields. They reiterated their support for a viable and independent Palestinian State on the borders of June 4, 1967, with its capital in Eastern Al-Quds. They also expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria and their support for a negotiated political solution. They expressed concern about the impact of the risks of proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction on the security and stability in the Middle East and the inherent right of states to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes as stipulated in the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT).
