Summit of south American - Arab Countries
1
- Presentation
2 - Date and Venue of the Summit
3 - Date and venue of the Entrepreneurial event
The Summit of South American - Arab Countries is an innovative initiative. It is the first international meeting in recent History that seeks to bring together two non contiguous world regions, both of them of continental dimensions, outside of the regular UN work program. It is fundamentally a proposal for South-South bi-regional cooperation. We view this initiative as a new, constructive and complementary effort to ongoing integration processes. It is not meant to confront or oppose any other country or region;
The Summit has many objectives. The most important is a reciprocal re-discovery of two regions with historical affinities and a vast but yet unfulfilled potential in the field of bilateral relations. Looking to the past, the contact points between the two worlds date back to the Arab presence in the Iberian peninsula. Human ties between both regions have grown more intense over the past century through migration flows toward South America, which have made a valuable contribution to the social and cultural development of an important number of countries in the region (over 10 million people of Arab descent live only in Brazil), not to mention the many South American migrants, particularly Brazilians, that have recently gone the opposite way in search of a new life in the Middle East;
Looking to the future, what we aim at is a partnership between two regions that face similar challenges in the struggle for development. The obvious diversity of their national situations, identities and levels of development does not prevent them from sharing common goals and interests. Countries from both regions share a common vision of peace and economic development with social justice, they base their actions on the respect for international law and multilateralism, they fight for an inclusive, tolerant, multipolar world more conducive to development;
2- Date and Venue of the Summit
- The Government of Brasil will host the Summit of South American and Arab Countries in Brasília, from May 10th to 11th, 2005.
- The following countries will participate of the Summit: Argentina, Algeria, Bahrein, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ecuador, Guiana, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Syrian Arab Rep, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen.
- The Summit will be held at the facilities of Blue Tree Alvorada Hotel, with the exception of the Opening Ceremony which will take place at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center.
- The Conference shall be preceded by a meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the 9th and a meeting of High Officials on the 8th.
- The Blue Tree Stars Hall, where the plenary sessions will be held, has an area of 1,356 m2 which accomodates up to 1200 people.
- The Blue Tree complex comprehends also an auditorium with 420 seats, which will host the final press conference, 14 meeting rooms and an exhibition area (blueprint shown below).
3- Date and venue of the Entrepreneurial event
- Immediately prior to the Conference of Heads of State or Government there will be held an Entrepreneurial Seminar and an Investment Fair.
- The entrepreneurial event will take place at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center, from May 9th to May 11th, 2005.
- The purpose of the meeting is to enhance mutual knowledge and boost business and investments between the regions. The meeting in Brasilia will provide an unprecedented opportunity to establish a new network of economic and commercial players from both regions.
- In addition to South American and Arab entrepreneurs, local and international bankers and financiers will attend the meeting. These will be targeted according to current and potential economic interests between the two regions.
- Further information is available at www.braziltradenet.gov.br. Look for the Trade Business South America-Arab Countries link.