Egypt ready to host MENA economic conference

Egypt is ready to host next spring the fifth Middle East- North Africa economic conference, reported Al Ahram daily, quoting Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Nabil Fahmi.

The diplomat said multilateral regional cooperation is part of the peace process and must be promoted in parallel to bilateral negotiations.

The MENA economic conference that gathers Arab states, Israel and several western countries, has not been convened since 1997 in view of the deadlock that entangled the peace process after the coming to power of a rightist government in Israel.

The holding of the MENA conference depends on the resumption of the peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said recently.

The first MENA conference was held in Morocco in 1994, the second in Egypt in 1995, the third in Jordan (1996) and the fourth in Qatar (1997).