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The Arab Customs Union is a customs union announced at the Arab League's 2009 Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in Kuwait in order to achieve a functional customs union by 2015 and an Arab common market by 2020 and to increase inter-Arab trade and integration. [1]
The announcement was made by the head of the Arab Customs Union Committee, Saud Al Jefeiri, who recently presided over a two-day meeting of the committee at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.
Participants in the meeting discussed the customs union plan and the structure of the customs union and reviewed the legal structure and regulations for the union. The union will lead to the establishment of an Arab common market.
Al Jefeiri, who represented Qatar at the meeting, said most Arab member countries agreed to put forward an implementing plan, Egypt and Morocco asked for an independent accord to govern the customs union.
The Arab customs union resolution contains 17 chapters and 179 articles regulating economic and trade relationship between Arab countries, and aims to boost trade and investment among member states
The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Yemen. Currently, the League has 22 members.
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, is a regional, intergovernmental, political, and economic union comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The council's main headquarters is located in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Charter of the GCC was signed on 25 May 1981, formally establishing the institution.
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The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined on 5 May 1945. Since its formation the Arab League has promoted the Palestinian Arab cause in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including by imposing the Arab League boycott of Israel. The Arab League opposed the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947. On 15 May 1948, the then seven Arab League members coordinated an invasion of what was by then the former British Mandate, marking the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
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The Economic and Social Council of the Arab League is an institution of the Arab League that co-ordinates its economic integration. The ESC was established as the Economic Council under the terms of the Joint Defence and Economic Co-operation Treaty (1950). and held its first meeting in 1953. In 1957, the ESC established the Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) and, in February 1997, the ESC adopted the Agreement to Facilitate and Develop Trade Among Arab Countries (1981) in pursuit of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA).
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Middle East economic integration refers to the process of improving economic cooperation, coordination, and connectivity among countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This process aims to create a unified economic space that allows for the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor across national borders within the region. The objectives behind such integration include enhancing regional trade, stimulating economic growth, achieving economies of scale, and fostering stability and peace through economic interdependence.
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