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The Arab Fund Hosts CGM and OECD joint meeting.
Mr. Eckhard Deutscher, Chair, OECD Development Assistance Committee Distinguished Representatives and Members of OECD/DAC Our Colleagues Heads and Representatives of Arab, Islamic and International Development Institutions of the Arab Coordination Group Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all in the Arab Fund Headquarters in Kuwait. I would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude for your accepting our invitation to this meeting, which was proposed by the OECD/DAC and agreed upon by all parties. This meeting is in fact a continuation of the joint effort towards strengthening the cooperation and coordination between our Group of Institutions and the Development Assistance Committee in areas of common interest. The fact many of you travelled long distances to be present here today serves to remind us all of how important the work ahead of us is in reviving this partnership. This our second meeting following the earlier are that met in the same place on February 4th, 2007. The outcome of that meeting was that our institutions should continue to exchange information and views on major issues for greater cooperation. On development issues and improved aid delivery. Up to date cumulative combined assistance of our Group is over US$ 90 billion, this is without counting Arab bilateral grants to other countries. This benefited people in more than one hundred developing countries. Assisting developing countries in their development efforts is a common goal that we all share. While we have common values and core principles, we also have our differences and that is what is making complementarity possible and cooperation more fruitful. Representatives of the Coordination Group have highlighted these facts in a number of gatherings events leading to the High-Level Forum held in Accra last September. More specifically, the special session of the Working Party on Aid Effectiveness with non-DAC providers of Aid, which was held in Paris in November 2007. Each institution in the Coordination Group has long experience in cooperation with OECD donors and international development institutions. Today in this meeting we need to discuss proposals to address more sustainable and systematic manner. More specifically, we would like to engage in more pragmatic forms of cooperation, which is responsive to recipient country needs. Sustainability and pragmatism in cooperation should go hand-in-hand with flexibility. I know that there is a limit to what can be covered in a one-day meeting like this one. That is why I hope that the discussions will remain focused on issues of principle leaving the details for further follow-up. Our agenda today covers three main topics: - The first “Recent trends in Arab and DAC development cooperation” this should highlight the previous areas of cooperation and how our institutions are challenged to make this cooperation more responsive to the beneficiaries needs.
- The second “Perspectives on aid effectiveness in the Arab countries” takes up the issue of how to make the delivery of aid in the region more effective, and considers whether closer cooperation in certain sectors is possible.
- The last topic “Sharing knowledge and developing statistical capacities” should deal with the ways and means of establishing efficient and mutually beneficial procedures to exchange data and information, sharing experiences and best practices, and coordinating programs.
For each topic a representative from both DAC and the Coordination Group will briefly reflect on the broad views of his constituency, after that the floor will be open for discussion. The last session of the meeting will be reserved for a wrap up. Before I handover to Mr. Eckhard Deutscher, Chair, DAC, to deliver his introductory speech, I want to say once more on behalf of the Arab Fund and the Coordination Group, welcome. Back to Kuwait at the Arab Fund. Thank You.
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