BAGHDAD, May 17 (MENA) – Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani announced the conclusion of the inaugural session of the fifth Arab Development, Economic, and Social Summit in Baghdad before the start of a closed-door session on Saturday.

The summit's agenda included a raft of economic and social issues, including how to promote joint Arab action in development and economic and social domains; an initiative by Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani for embracing the blue economy to deal with food and energy crises; and the latest developments related to the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA).

It also covered the need to complete the requirements for establishing the Arab Customs Union, the Arab Food Security Strategy for 2025-2035, a set of development projects proposed by Sudan, and a plan to support development and infrastructure needs in Yemen.

The summit also tackled a number of energy and sustainable development issues, including a solar power project for Palestinian refugee camps, lifting energy sanctions on Syria, a Bahraini satellite project dubbed “Al-Munther” to promote Arab space leadership, the implementation of an updated Arab water security strategy until 2030, and the mechanisms needed to support sustainable financing in the Arab world.

At the social level, the summit addressed ways to improve technical and vocational education in Arab countries, a comprehensive strategy to improve school and university health services, how to enhance human capital investment in the health sector, and the Egyptian experience in eliminating hepatitis C virus.

The summit agenda also included a strategic framework and executive action plan for the economic and social empowerment of women, an action plan for the Arab Strategy for Youth, Peace, and Security 2023-2028, and preparations for the Second World Summit for Social Development, to take place in Doha in November.

It also includes a declaration of principles on the future of human resources in light of modern technological advancements and the need to draw up a comprehensive strategy for providing better school and university health services and stimulating human capital investment in the health sector.

The summit also discussed how to promote technological leadership and sustainable development, an updated labor force development and employment strategy, and the Arab Vision titled "On the Path to Achieving Hope through Thought, Will, and Action by 2045. (MENA)

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