Tunisian President Receives Executive Secretary

On 24 February 2014, the Tunisian President, Mr. Mohamad Moncef Marzouki received United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf at Carthage Palace in Tunis in the presence of Tunisian Foreign Affairs Minister Munj Hamdi and UN Resident Coordinator in Tunis Mounir Tabet. Both parties discussed the strategy to boost Arab cooperation in order to achieve a concrete socio-economic integration. They also discussed ESCWA's report entitled "Arab Integration: A 21st Century Development Imperative", which was launched in Tunis on 25 February with the participation of renowned political, economic and intellectual personalities. Marzouki and Khalaf discussed the approach adopted by ESCWA related to achieving the desired Arab economic integration; the ways to activating the previous Arab socio-economic summits' resolutions, including the establishment of an Arab customs union by 2015; and ways to overcome legal and procedural obstacles between Arab countries to stimulate the trade and facilitate goods' exchange between different markets. President Mohamad Moncef Marzouki expressed Tunis' readiness to validate its partnership with ESCWA in many areas such as combating poverty and achieving development, etc. On 26 February 2014 Tunisian Minister of Economy and Finance Hakim Ben Hammouda discussed with the Executive Secretary ESCWA's role in strengthening cooperation between Arab countries, and knowledge and experiences exchange at the regional and international levels. They also tackled the possibility of developing a joint program for technical and economic cooperation in all developmental areas. ESCWA Senior Economist and Director of Economic Development and Globalization Division Abdallah Dardari, and UN Resident Coordinator in Tunis Mounir Tabet also took part in the meeting.