UN-ESCWA opened on 2 July the "Third Forum on Arab Business Community and the WTO Agreements", in Adnan Kassar Edifice for Arab Economy, Beirut. The event is held in collaboration with the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries, and the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

 

With nine of its member countries accounting for some 56 and 30 per cent of oil and natural gas world supplies, the UN-ESCWA region is especially rich in these resources, said Executive Secretary Bader Omar AlDafa. At the same time, other member countries have little or no gas or oil reserves.  Such disparities among and between countries of the region had kept average growth over the past two years at about 5.6 per cent.