19/01/2011
Al-Ahram Newspaper 2011/JANUARY /19
Al-Ahram Newspaper 2011/JANUARY /19
People from all over the world are looking forward to the results of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh. They want to know its decisions and applicable recommendations in order to keep abreast with new developments. We were the first to adopt the unity option through the experiences of unity between different Arab countries. All these experiences ended with the same result; separation. The reason for separation was that we started with political unity. Doors were left open wide for difference, dissimilarities, separation and hatred, which resulted in failure for all experiences of unity. We were the first to call for economic unity. We devised good, ambitious plans for achieving that end; however, the absence of willingness in the implementation of these plans resulted in the failure of this experience. The West adopted our idea, developed and successfully implemented it.(Available in Arabic – German in PDF )
The European experience, which started with the European Common Market and ended with the European unity, is looked at with admiration. Compatibility and harmony in turning elements of difference into elements of agreement is the most important point of the European experience. Political factors were left to the last phase of unity enabling each country to freely manage its own affairs. To push forward Arab economic cooperation we must first accelerate the implementation of required decisions to activate the Arab Common Market (ACM). Second, we must unify institutions in all Arab countries to achieve so-called “harmony” through removing obstacles in the way of these institutions. Third, we must achieve compatibility and harmony between different laws through the establishment of specialized committees that remove contradictions between various laws. The media plays a vital role in attracting the Arab people towards such a goal, through showing success stories of Arab individuals and institutions.