Cross-investment between Arab states rose by 55 percent last year to reach a staggering $6bn, with the influx of foreign investment in Arab countries increasing by a 94 percent in 2004 to reach $16.7bn.
Meanwhile, collective assets of the financial markets of the Arab region is set at a staggering $1trillion, according to Hamadi Attabaa, head of Arab Business Association.
Attabaa said that he welcomed a proposal made by the Arab Tourism Organization to establish a $2bn Arab Tourism Bank that would fund tourism projects across the Arab world.
Attabaa made the comments at the 9th Arab Business Forum that opened in Doha on Tuesday. The conference, set to last two days, included 750 delegates from all over the Arab world, including Arab League’s Secretary-General, Amr Moussa.
Moussa lamented the slow reform process in the Arab world and called on removing impediments to development.
The conference was opened by Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, H E Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud.
Mahmoud stressed the need for lifting trade barriers so that businesses would be able to successfully compete, according to The Penninsula.
He said a number of sensitive social and developmental challenges faced the Arab world and that included unemployment and raising the standard of living.
