Qatari finance minister Yusuf Kamal said Monday the inter-Arab trade has averaged 8.5 percent since 1996, indicating weak trade between Arab states.
Kamal, addressing the opening session of the second inter-Arab trade conference, called for boosting opportunities for inter-Arab trade.
On his part, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah said volume of inter-Arab trade was amounted to 13.317 billion in 1998, Kuna reported. He added the GCC member states were contributing with 54 percent of Arab gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003.
