The Fifth Arab Forum on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency kicked off on October 1 at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League in Cairo, with the participation of Morocco, under the theme “Innovation for Sustainable Energy.”
The Kingdom is represented at this two-day meeting by the Director General of the Institute for Research in Solar Energy and Renewable Energies (IRESEN), Samir Rachidi, and the Vice-President of the African Commission at the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Co-President of the Green H2 Cluster, and Chief Development Officer of the Middle-East and Africa region at HIF Global, Ali Zerouali.
Organized in cooperation with the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the forum brings together government officials, heads of national and regional organizations, and international experts and focuses on the role of innovation in developing the energy sector and promoting sustainable energy in the Arab region, amid the latest developments in the Arab electricity market.
On this occasion, the Secretary-General of the Arab League (AL), Ahmed Aboul Gheit, stated that this forum aims to encourage discussions in order to strengthen dialogue in the energy field and develop an Arab approach with a view to a more sustainable future for generations to come.
In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of the Arab League’s (AL) Energy Department, Jamila Matar, Aboul Gheit underlined that the Pan-Arab Organization’s vision of energy issues rests on several pillars, headed by the firm conviction that energy sources are a means to growth and prosperity, and not a tool for pressure in times of crisis.
“Maintaining the Arab region’s strategic position on world energy markets is key to achieving greater prosperity for Arab societies,” stressed the Secretary-General.
The official also shed light on the importance of consolidating Arab integration, which requires concerted efforts in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area, including the action of the Arab Ministerial Council on Electricity to establish a common Arab electricity market, the role of energy transition or the gradual inclusion of renewable energy sources in the energy mix, and the importance of encouraging the private sector to invest in this field.
Aboul Gheit concluded that in order to achieve this objective, emphasis must be placed on implementing the United Nations’ (UN) seventh Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”