Arab Economic and Social council meeting kicks off in Cairo

The 93rd meeting of the Arab Economic and Social Affairs Ministerial Council kicked off here on Thursday at the Arab League's Secretariat headquarters with the participation of Kuwait's Minister of Finance Anas Al-Saleh. The one-day meeting of the Arab ministers is due to tackle a wide array of topics, the most salient among which are: developing a pan-Arab tariff union, the Arab free-trade zone, freeing-up intra-Arab commerce from any currently existing shackles, a ministerial council in charge of climate issues, and a pan-Arab building code. Among social topics the meeting here will also discuss will be how to deal with the disease of autism and ways to boost the rights of the elderly. The ministers moreover will discuss the draft resolutions and recommendations of the coming session as well as the preparation of a comprehensive report on the plans to develop economic and social cooperation and integration among Arab countries which will be put forward for discussion at the coming Arab Economic and Social Summit, scheduled for March 25-26 in Kuwait. Furthermore, they will review the implementation of Lima Declaration which was made at the conclusion of the Arab-Latin America summit in Lima in October 2012 as well as the resolutions of the Afro-Arab summit, held in Kuwait last November.