Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced that the first ever US-Arab Economic Forum to be held in Detroit, Michigan, on May 15-17, 2003.
The American Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Detroit Regional Chamber will be among the main organizers of this important conference. A number of Arab American organizations will also contribute to the conference including ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), Dearborn; Arab American Institute, Washington, D.C.; and the Arab-American Anti-discrimination Committee, Washington, D.C.
Moussa said that the conference is a serious attempt to increase understanding and cooperation between the United States and countries of the Arab world through trade and economic cooperation.
"There is vast trade and investment between the US and the Arab world. Our objective is to build more bridges of cooperation and understanding. There are many areas of commonality that news headlines seem to cloud every once in a while, but I firmly believe that the potential is great and we should do everything in our capacity to tap it."
Kilpatrick said, "We are proud that Detroit was chosen to host this international conference. Not only does our metropolitan area have the largest concentration of Arab descendants in the country, we are an international city with a desire to do more business with the Arab world. We welcome high officials, individuals and business people from across the country and the Arab world to Detroit to engage in honest and open dialog."
The conference will explore the current state of US-Arab economic relations; the role of Arab Americans in improving relations; cultural differences that impact economic relations; and the future of US-Arab economic relations. The three-day forum will take place at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Detroit, with off-site events taking place at a number of Detroit area institutions. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
