Abul Gheit urges launching real, fruitful partnership between gov'ts, private sector

CAIRO, Nov 19 (MENA) - Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit called on Monday for launching a real and fruitful partnership between governments and the private sector to achieve sustainable development.

Addressing the opening session of the Second Arab Week for Sustainable Development, Abul Gheit said the challenge we face is to set up a successful equal partnership between governments and the private sector in a way that guarantees governments would not take the place of the private sector or discourage it.

He underlined the importance of the private sector's role in providing necessary funds to achieve the agenda of sustainable development.

Development remains a key to achieving security and stability in the Arab countries and experiments show that economic development has helped many countries in the Arab region to face terrorism, violence and extremism.

Arab communities have tremendous potentials and unlimited chances to achieve development but they need to choose the right development model that suits their circumstances, Abul Gheit added.

The second week kicked off earlier in the day with the participation of Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform Hala el Saeed and under the title of "Launching for Work".

The event is organized by the Ministry of Planning, Follow-up, Administrative Reform and the General Secretariat of the Arab League.

The week's sessions focus on sustainable financing and issues related to putting an end to all forms of hunger and malnutrition which is one of the goals of the sustainable development plan 2030.

The sessions also tackle achieving a balance between rural and urban development.

They take up issues related to soft powers and their role in illuminating communities.