Arab investors conference in Beirut on October 18

The conference of Arab businessmen and investors will open its session in Beirut on October 18. The three-day conference will discuss the executive steps for establishing an Arab joint market and foreign trade zone. It will also review the scheduled Doha economic conference of the Middle East and north African countries in light of the latest developments in the peace process.

The attendants will also review a proposal to organize this conference annually instead of bi-annually in order to expand contacts between Arab investors, said the chairman of the General Chambers of Commerce's Federation, Mahmoud Al Arabi.

He added that the improving investment climate between the Arab countries resulted in a rise in inter-Arab investments to reach 1.5 billion US dollars in 1996 in comparison to only one billion in 1995, Al Akhbar daily said today.