بيانات صحفية

21 تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر 2012

Beirut

Major Challenges Facing the Region on the Agenda of the First ESCWA Arab Economics Forum

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Mr. Marwan Kheireddine, Lebanese Minister of State, Dr. Rima Khalaf, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the Delegation of the European Union, and Mr. Rida Saidi, Tunisia’s Minister of Economy, will open the First ESCWA Arab Economics Forum at 10:00 am on Friday 23 November 2012 at the ESCWA headquarters, Riad Solh Square, Beirut. The Forum will conclude on 24 November 2012. Funded by the European Union, this Forum will gather a group of dignitaries at the ministerial level from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, as well as a group of experts of regional and international institutions. The Forum aims to present and discuss the demands of the recent popular uprisings, and the major challenges facing the region and how to tackle them. Discussions will revolve around three main themes including Short Term Policy Responses to Unemployment Problems in the Arab Region; Fiscal Space in the aftermath of the Arab Spring; and Reinforcing the Role of Arab Development Fund for tackling economic problems in the region and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and creating new jobs. This Forum comes at a time when several countries are transitioning to develop a new discourse on the potential ways to tackle the major economic, social and political challenges. Despite heterogeneity in the socio-economic profiles, most Arab countries are facing challenges in all fields, such as high socio-economic and geographic disparities, chronic unemployment, distinct rural-urban divides, and marginalization of certain social groups, widespread corruption, and deterioration of key governance indicators. Arab governments today are trying to address the causes that led to the Arab Spring through developing their political, economic and social discourse and working on its basis. ESCWA aims through this forum to bring together policy makers to exchange ideas about developmental issues, which include unemployment and securing and financing social protection. ESCWA Communication and Information Unit (ECIU) kindly requests that media colleagues who would like to cover this forum confirm their attendance by calling either of the following numbers: 70- 993144 and 03- 910930.
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