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Peru president calls for closer South American-Arabian cooperation

03 October 2012 02:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Peru’s President Ollanta Humala Tuesday called for closer cooperation between South American and Arabian countries to face common challenges and attain goals of peaceful development, APA reports.

"This summit calls on us to face common challenges and achieve a culture of peace, inclusion and development", Humala told leader and delegates to the Third Summit of South American and Arab Countries (ASPA) in the Peruvian capital Lima.

Describing the Arab nations as "countries similar to ours," he called for greater south-south cooperation between the two regions.

The summit has drawn delegates of 22 Arabian and 12 South American countries, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, as President of the Council of Foreign Ministers; and the Secretary General of the Arab League Nabil el-Araby.

The summit is expected to adopt a Lima Declaration, which sources said will express support for Palestinian statehood, a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis, and the establishment of a nuclear-weapon free Middle East, in addition to greater economic and technological cooperation between member nations.

Underscoring the importance of the Palestinian situation for the Arab bloc and its allies in South America, Humala said it would top the group’s list of "common joint principles" that would be reaffirmed in the Lima Declaration.

"The first (principle) is peace, but there can be no peace without justice. That is why Peru joins the cause for a sovereign and independent Palestine," said Humala.

The summit is preceded by a meeting of Foreign Ministers Monday, as well as a CEO summit dedicated to promoting trade and investment.

ASPA was the initiative of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who noted during a 2003 tour of the Arab world that the two regions, while geographically distant, had much in common in terms of culture, society and development, certainly more so than either region has with traditional trade partners Europe and the United States.