Organization of Arab cities meets in Morocco

The Organization of Arab Cities opened Tuesday here the 39th session of its permanent bureau to look into a number of issues related to the organisation's action plan and cooperation prospects between Arab metropolises.

The inaugural session was marked by addresses made by several Arab mayors and Morocan interior minister, Driss Basri, who hailed on the occasion the progress made by Arab cities to preserve their architectural authenticity and improve management of their local affairs.

He also paid tribute to the actions made by the Organisation of Arab cities -- gathering more than 400 Arab cities-- for the reinforcement of partnership between Arab metropolises in sustained development, town planning, urban transportation and struggle against pollution.

The other Arab speakers underlined the challenging socio-economic and management difficulties facing Arab cities and called for the consolidation of the exchange of experiences between Arab cities in all sectors.

The Agenda of the Arab cities encounter also includes debates on the importance of associating local community in the management of the city affairs, the private sector's role in upgrading the social services and encouragement of environment friendly-industries.