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Arabs, South America in bid to shape new world |
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Sunday, 12 April 2009 |
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Representatives from 22 Arab and 12 South American countries, including heads of state, are meeting today in their second summit in Doha, Qatar, in an effort to strengthen their business ties.
Although these countries are located on opposite sides of the globe and have very different cultures and political structures, they seem to a share the same views on a number of issues.
Most South American leaders strongly condemned the 22-day Israeli war against the civilian population of Gaza. Venezuela and Bolivia have even decided to cut diplomatic relations with Israel.
Many analysts have considered that these cooperation efforts represent a change in priorities in both regions and a gradual shift from traditional European and US influence, both politically and economically.
They added that there are good reasons for such cooperation, as Brazil, Argentina and Saudi Arabia are members of the G20, meeting this week in London. Also, Ecuador and Venezuela are members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), alongside Arab oil producers.
In addition, a large Arab population is living in Latin America. Reports have said that about 20% of the South American population is of Arab origin, 10 million in Brazil alone.
This year's Arab-south American business forum mainly aims to build on the achievements realised since the first summit, held in 2005 in Brasilia, as trade between the two regions has almost tripled, according to press reports.
Participants have also discussed cooperation prospects and the strengthening of trade between the two regions.
As expected, the international financial crisis has dominated discussions, as the draft declaration, quoted by the media, expresses "deep concern" about it and its impact of the Arab and South American economies.
Morocco is represented in this forum by Prince Moulay Rachid, who arrived in Doha on Sunday to attend both this and the Arab League summit held on Monday.
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