Spain: Euro-Arab Cities Forum Finishes
By KUNA
he Second European-Arab Cities Forum has come to a close Saturday in Malaga, the sixth largest city in Spain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
The two-day event, themed “cooperation experiences and prospects for facing common challenges,” gathered 73 representatives of major local authorities from Europe and the Arab world including Kuwait.
The Forum was co-organized by the Kuwait-based Arab Towns Organization (ATO), the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), and the Standing Committee for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities (COPPEM).
It debated issues of local governance and urban management for sustainable local development, as well as cultural issues.
The discussions also included topics such as cooperation among Arab and European cities, the relationship between local and central governments, local services in such areas as tourism, culture and heritage, the role of cities in the wake of the global financial crisis, the role of donors in financing urban development and sustainable development and curbing the climate change.
Kuwait was represented by municipal officials of Kuwait City, Al-Farwaniya, Hawally and Al-Ahmadi governorates.
The first such forum was hosted by Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, in 2008.
Founded on March 15, 1967, ATO grew in membership to include more than 460 member cities that are bound by partnership and twinning agreements.
