UMA marks fortieth birthday on Feb.17

The Maghreb Arab Union (UMA), created on February 17th 1989 in Marrakesh, by Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia, will mark its fortieth birthday next Monday amidst new hopes that the latest UMA foreign ministers session will help reactivate the Union.

The creation of this regional grouping translated the political will of the five states' leaders and peoples to promote integration based on their commonalities.

Since inception, UMA only convened six ordinary summits (Tunisia 1990, Algeria 1990, Morocco 1991, Mauritania 1992 and Tunisia 1994). No extraordinary summit was convened so far.

Frozen in 1995 as a result of Algeria's direct backing to the Polisario secessionists who claim the independence of Morocco's southern provinces, UMA's activities resumed in May 1999, with the meeting of the follow-up committee comprising the member-states ministers in charge of the Union and in March 2001, at the level of the Foreign Affairs ministers. The foreign ministers' latest meeting early January in Algiers had evoked the possibility of holding a UMA summit "shortly."

UMA's various bodies convened since 1989 resulted in the signing of thirty seven conventions covering all realms of cooperation. Only seven of these agreements were ratified.

With 10,000 kms-long coast, UMA has the potential not only to become a maritime force to reckon with, but also an energy and tourism hub. While the UMA extends over 6.1 million square kms, twofold superior to the European Union's territory (3.2 million square KM)), it produces fifty times less than the EU: US$ 150 billion compared to the EU's US $7.500 billion.

UMA's US$1,800 income per capita is tenfold lower that the EU's which posts US$20,000.