Arab-S American meet to tackle financial crisis

The second Arab-South American countries summit, which is to be held in Doha tomorrow, is expected to seek a joint mechanism to deal with the global financial crisis as well as enhance joint investment and co-operation between the two blocs.
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani will address the opening session of the summit along with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who is also the head of the Union of South American nations, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva.
Among the other South American leaders who will be attending the meeting is Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and the President of Argentina Cristina Elisabet Fern?ndez de Kirchner.
The Arab-South American meeting is due to start immediately after the closing session of the Arab Summit Meeting starting today.
Earlier this month, HE Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs chaired a joint meeting between Arab foreign ministers and their counterparts from 12 South American nations at the Arab League in Cairo where they discussed the Doha draft declaration, which is expected to be approved by the leaders of the participating nations.
The Doha declaration will focus on promoting trade ties between the two groups and looking into ways to deal with the financial crisis.
Nabil bin Ali, an analyst at the Algeria Radio, said that the two regions, which are separated geographically, are looking for ways to find new markets and go beyond their traditional partners.
“Although the volume of trade between the two groups is relatively low, they hope they can open untraditional markets and focus on economic issues. It is important for South American nations, who are generally adopting anti-American stances to find partners in the Middle East countries,” he told Gulf Times.
However, Bin Ali saw the recent meeting between US President Barack Obama and the Brazilian president, whose country has aspirations for playing a leading regional role on the international stage and securing a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, as dimming the hopes for the meeting.
“Brazil is a giant player among the group, and in case it lowers its support for promoting the ties between the two regions, the group may lose much of its lustre,” he added.
About the political aspect of the Doha draft declaration, Bin Ali said that President Chavez of Venezuela might get a hero’s reception in the Middle East thanks to his recent stance on the 22-day Israeli war on Gaza Strip when Venezuela dismissed the Israeli ambassador in support of Gaza.
The first meeting that brought the leaders of the two regions together was held in Brazil in 2005.

Original article from: Gulf Times