More than 120 mayors of European and Arab cities are attending the third edition of Euro-Arab Cities Forum, which was inaugurated yesterday by Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality.
The two-day event is being held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
In his inaugural address, Shaikh Hamdan stressed the need of more cooperation between the West and the Arab world in order to serve the interests of both regions.
The speakers at the forum urged both Arab and western worlds to establish more dialogues between the local governments to start a new era of development and bringing the people and culture together.
The speakers stressed the need of a platform for a people-to-people relations for uplifting the development process and eradicating the differences over politically-motivated issues.
Three sessions held yesterday focused on local governance, best practices, and transport and planning.
On the sidelines of the conference, Dr. Osama Albar, Mayor of Makkah, told Khaleej Times that co-operation between local governments can bring the communities together and it would open a window for people to interact each other.
“This can resolve the misunderstanding and perceptional differences between people. It would lead us to a better world,” he said.
Alberto Ruiz-Galardon Jimenez, Mayor of Madrid, said, “Both Arab and western worlds can learn a lot by sharing expertise. I think the best way to connect people is to establish relations between local governments. I don’t think the existing conflicts are an obstacle for cooperation in development. But it would be much better if we could end conflicts through dialogues,” he added.
Omar Al Bahrawi, Mayor of Rabat, opined that the best way to resolve the conflicts between the West and the Arab world was to create a proper platform for people to meet and interact. “The conflicts have a marginal effect in the cooperation. However, both the regions can learn from each other through dialogues and achieve common goals. Local governments can play a major role in facilitating these dialogues without any political involvements.”
Eng. Hussien Nasser Lootah, Acting Director-General of Dubai Municipality, said, “Dubai Municipality has always encouraged forging of relations between the local governments in Arab and western worlds. Euro-Arab Cities Conference is an example of our effort to bring the local governments together.”
Minister of Environment and Water Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al Kindi, Minister of Education Dr. Hanif Hassan, Secretary-General of UAE Municipalities Jassim Mohammed bin Darwish, and a large number of prominent Arab and European personalities, including heads of municipalities and local councils were present at the function.
The forum has been jointly organised by the Arab Towns Organisation (ATO), the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), Dubai Municipality, the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local Authorities and Regions (COPPEM), the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe (CLARE). Source
The two-day event is being held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
In his inaugural address, Shaikh Hamdan stressed the need of more cooperation between the West and the Arab world in order to serve the interests of both regions.
The speakers at the forum urged both Arab and western worlds to establish more dialogues between the local governments to start a new era of development and bringing the people and culture together.
The speakers stressed the need of a platform for a people-to-people relations for uplifting the development process and eradicating the differences over politically-motivated issues.
Three sessions held yesterday focused on local governance, best practices, and transport and planning.
On the sidelines of the conference, Dr. Osama Albar, Mayor of Makkah, told Khaleej Times that co-operation between local governments can bring the communities together and it would open a window for people to interact each other.
“This can resolve the misunderstanding and perceptional differences between people. It would lead us to a better world,” he said.
Alberto Ruiz-Galardon Jimenez, Mayor of Madrid, said, “Both Arab and western worlds can learn a lot by sharing expertise. I think the best way to connect people is to establish relations between local governments. I don’t think the existing conflicts are an obstacle for cooperation in development. But it would be much better if we could end conflicts through dialogues,” he added.
Omar Al Bahrawi, Mayor of Rabat, opined that the best way to resolve the conflicts between the West and the Arab world was to create a proper platform for people to meet and interact. “The conflicts have a marginal effect in the cooperation. However, both the regions can learn from each other through dialogues and achieve common goals. Local governments can play a major role in facilitating these dialogues without any political involvements.”
Eng. Hussien Nasser Lootah, Acting Director-General of Dubai Municipality, said, “Dubai Municipality has always encouraged forging of relations between the local governments in Arab and western worlds. Euro-Arab Cities Conference is an example of our effort to bring the local governments together.”
Minister of Environment and Water Dr. Mohammed Saeed Al Kindi, Minister of Education Dr. Hanif Hassan, Secretary-General of UAE Municipalities Jassim Mohammed bin Darwish, and a large number of prominent Arab and European personalities, including heads of municipalities and local councils were present at the function.
The forum has been jointly organised by the Arab Towns Organisation (ATO), the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), Dubai Municipality, the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local Authorities and Regions (COPPEM), the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities at the Council of Europe (CLARE). Source
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