Closing Ceremony of the 8th regional Conference at Monroe Hotel – Beirut
The 8th Regional Conference addressing the “support of stability and development in Arab countries and the Middle East” concluded its events this morning at Monroe Hotel – Beirut with the announcement of the final recommendations to the subjects that were raised.
An honoring ceremony dedicated to the sponsors and the organization that provided funding to the Conference took place afterwards and was attended by the vice Chief of Staff for personnel Brigadier General P.S.C Khalil Yehya who represented the Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun and representatives of the participating sides. The participants included the “gathering of civil influence” the Bureau of Commerce and Industry in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, the Middle East Airlines, the Association of Banks, Fransabank, Basel Fleihan Financial Institute in addition to the centers of researches and studies and the associations that participated in the conference.
The Head of the general committee Brigadier General Fadi Abi Farraj delivered a speech on the occasion in which he expressed his gratitude to the sides that participated in the conference and contributed to its success. Brigadier General Abi Farraj also highlighted the positive results and particularly the exchange of ideas and propositions concerning the support and development in Arab countries and the Middle East.
Recommendations of the 1st group:
“support of stability and development in Arab countries and the Middle East”
The Arab world is being invaded with new challenges and its stats have not worked on reinforcing strong civil societies that help in uniting its population elements in a unifying national frame. On the contrary, as a result, weak countries were established under the leadership of political powers that ar unable to build modern bases for the state.
The context that discusses the “support of stability and development in Arab countries and the Middle East” has resulted in the following recommendations:
Firstly: working on countering extremist groups with Takfiri mentalities and preventing the interest of separatist groups from overriding national unity, through the encouragement to build “the state of Right” based on respecting Human rights as stipulated in international pacts.
Secondly: fighting corruption by putting transparent mechanisms for righteous leadership according to international standards.
Thirdly: enrooting legal bases for peaceful coexistence starting from constitution to laws and regulations in a way to adapt them with the needs of society.
Four: supporting stability in the Arab Region by reinforcing general freedoms and national fusion between different elements of society.
Five: reinforcing academic and educational exchange between states of the region in order to establish a joint academic cultural regional system between friend countries.
Six: unifying efforts in order to create solutions for conflicts and crises in the region by spreading the culture of peace and alternative ways in solving conflicts such as negotiations, mediation and arbitration.
Seven: ensuring the support of national armies in Arab countries as a principal reference to protect national peace.
Eight: placing a regional and international strategy in order to face displacement crises.
Nine: keeping up with sustainable development in the development between global societies from modern and digital techniques to the virtual world and updating local and regional laws to counter electronic crimes.
Ten: reinforcing the independence of the judicial system and protecting it from political interventions by placing an independent organizational mechanism.
Recommendations of the 2nd group:
The 2nd group was gathered under the presidency of Dr. Farid Chaaban in order to treat research papers in the 2nd chapter of the conference entitled: “strategies of economic development”. It included the elite of experts and researchers from Lebanon and several Arab and Foreign countries. The group started with a salute for the Army institution and the center of Research and Strategic Studies as well as its president Brigadier General P.S.C Fadi Abi Farraj.
The recommendations included the following:
- Stressing the importance of political and security stability while preserving general and democratic freedoms and setting aside joint economic interests for Arab people from political conflicts.
- The importance of getting over the chaos that took over the Arab countries and giving special importance to countries suffering conflicts and repercussions of security, regional, economic and financial crises.
At the level of sectors for Arab States and the Middle East:
- Increasing the productivity and competitiveness of national industries and encouraging exportation and sustainable consummation.
- Increasing the competence in the consummation patterns of energy and encouraging green industry by placing an Arab strategy for the usage of renewable and alternative energy.
- Improving the management of sustainable Arab and regional resources and preserving them in quantity and quality and fighting related conflicts and developing cooperation mechanisms.
- Developing infrastructure to support economy and update legal, organizational and administrative papers and providing logistic equipment in order to close the digital gap and transferring to electronic government as well as developing the sector of communications in order to facilitate production services.
- Providing infrastructure to support sustainable Arab tourism and boosting the role of the Arab tourism organization.
- Working on relieving the repercussions of climate change (fighting desertification, drought and lack of pure water…)
- Developing infrastructures for transport and connecting electric transport networks.
- Establishing boxes to support projects for environmental development investments.
- Development of extremely small, small and medium institutions as a motor for local development and creating job opportunities.
- Supporting productive sectors and reviving the weak ones as well as treating general budgets to transfer from revenue-generating to productive expenditure.
- Adopting the principle of partnership between the public and private sectors and the civil society and launching a pact for a strategic partnership.
- Offering banking facilitations and improving the investment environment for national capitals as well as attracting money from abroad and making use of expatriate energies.
- Activating economic diplomacy in order to fix the position of every state of the map of international economic relations.
- Fighting corruption and activating surveillance units and incriminating all aspects of illegal economic activity.
At the level of strategic development strategies:
- Placing national strategies to accomplish the goals of sustainable development for the year 2030, particularly by lowering unemployment and poverty rates.
- Adopting a geo-economic strategy in order to accomplish comprehensive Arab development. That is based on balancing natural and financial resources of some Arab States.
- Deepening the cooperation between Arab states in order to boost competitive capability and creating a joint Arab market.
- Establishing supply chains between Arab states.
- Establishing a national and Arab statistics bank in order to improve statistical and IT capability.
- Limiting population boom in some Arab cities.
- Boosting the citizen’s trust in his state and institutions by raising the social security level and placing mechanisms to implement political, economic and social Human Rights.
- Building the capabilities of human resources, particularly the youth and encouraging innovation as well as limiting the migrations of intellectuals.
- Equality between genders and enabling the woman to be involved in the productive process and draw national general politics.
- Developing academic and educational curriculums in a way to match the needs of cognitive economy and the demands of the production market.
In the end, despite all challenges and difficulties, there is still a beam of hope towards a future filled with security stability and the expansion of diversity and mutual respect as well as economic prosperity and social justice.
Recommendations of the 3rd group
- Stressing the civil state and full citizenship based of freedom and equality and respect of diversity.
- Stressing international human rights and matching them with the constitutions of the Arab state.
- Not surrendering to obstacles that freeze the society and creating constitutional mechanism to boost development.
- Activating the role of constitutional councils.
- Working on increasing conscience in mechanisms of the work of international and regional organizations.
- Stressing Lebanon’s right to spread its full sovereignty including its natural resources.
- Stressing the right of Arabs to treat their causes regardless of any external intervention.
- Activating the European – middle eastern partnership in order to boost development and reach stability.
- Boosting the role of the woman in all fields of public affairs, particularly in the political and economic life.
- Adopting an open religious lecture and a media plan that stresses the system of common values in order to counter speeches of hatred.
- Enabling joint Arab work including coordination with friend states in order to liberate Jerusalem from the Zionist occupation and protecting its sacred possessions.
