UAE Energy Forum: Outlook for the Arab World in the 4th Anniversary of the Arab Spring

in the world, when vast arable areas in our Arab world remain underutilized. And it is not acceptable to connect in Paris or Istanbul when traveling from one Arab capital to another. In fact many Arab capitals are not even linked by roads or rails.  

Economic integration has worked wonders, created millions of jobs and lifted millions out of poverty in regions that have much less in common than the Arab countries. But the trick is that they started in small well-defined initiatives and grew according to joint interests, while in the Arab case they have always started with big ambitious announcements that remained ink on paper. 

Dear Friends,

In the coming period in which the global political and economic architecture is being redrawn, we should never lose focus on what really matters. We should not shy away from planning and achieving our long-term interests as Arabs, and we should never lose faith that better days are yet to come and work hard on instilling hope in the future generation through the implementation of concrete steps on the roads of integration and development.

I would like to thank you all for your attendance today. I would like to thank Gulf Intelligence for bringing us together, dear friends, your Excellency Minister Mazrouei for the honor of your presence. And I wish you all a productive and successful forum.