Senegal to host 4th Afro-Arab exhibition in April
Senegal is to host next April the fourth Arab-African exhibition, a Senegalese minister announced.
Preparations for the exhibitions and boosting economic ties between African and Arab states were reviewed at a meeting held on Saturday between secretary general of the Arab League, Esmat Abdel-Meguid, and Senegalese Trade Minister Khalifa Ababakar Salla.
After the meeting, Salla told reporters that the talks focused on economic issues because economic underdevelopment lies behind some political problems in Africa.
Senegal hopes that the planned exhibition, which is co-sponsored by the Arab League and the Organization of African Unity, will be successful, said the trade minister.
The exhibition, hosted by Arab and African countries in turn, has previously been staged in Tunisia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
During their talks, Salla briefed Abdel-Meguid on his on-going tour of Arab countries which has taken him to Kuwait, Syria, Libya and Saudi Arabia. Egypt is the last stop of his trip. Abdel-Meguid underlined the importance of the Afro-Arab exhibition for boosting cooperation and economic ties between the two sides.
He expressed hope that the Cairo-based Arab League would help remove the barriers to Arab-African cooperation in various domains for the interests of the Arab and African peoples.
Salla arrived here on Thursday. During his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Saturday, he delivered a message to Mubarak from Senegalese President Abdou Diouf.
