HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi headed the State of Qatar's delegation to the meeting.
In a speech before the meeting, HE al-Muraikhi affirmed Qatar's firm position towards the Palestinian cause and its support for all efforts devoted to finding a just solution to this cause, which is among the priorities of co-operation between Arab countries and Pacific island states.
Meeting stresses importance of implementing Doha Programme of Action for LDCs
The Second Ministerial Meeting of the Member States of the Arab League and the Pacific Island States stressed the importance of implementing the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), which provides the needs of the least developed countries, including the Pacific small island developing states.
The Riyadh Declaration welcomed the results of the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which was hosted by Qatar in March, with the participation of several heads of state and government, ministers and diplomats from brotherly and friendly countries, senior officials, businesspersons, decision-makers, and representatives of regional and global organisations, institutions and companies.
The meeting also reviewed the relations between the Arab countries and the developing Pacific small island states and discussed economic and development cooperation and climate issues. The participants expressed their desire to enhance cooperation and establish partnerships between the Arab countries and the Pacific island states in various fields.
He urged Pacific islands states to back the Arab firm position towards the Palestinian cause which is based on ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital within the framework of international legitimacy and pertinent UN Security Council's resolutions which are based on the utmost rejection to any measures that impose illegal reality on the ground in Jerusalem stemming from co-operation ties with Qatar and everything dictated by the global human conscience.
In this regard, HE al-Muraikhi called on Pacific islands states that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to recognise and support the State of Palestine in international venues, expressing Qatar's aspiration to have expanded co-operation between Arab states and Pacific islands states in pursuit of achieving international peace and security and supporting Arab efforts in international forums to establish a Middle East nuclear weapon free zone (MENWFZ) similar to the South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone (SPNFZ) Treaty of Rarotonga.
He said Qatar aspires to broader co-operation to resolve regional conflicts in some territories of its countries through peaceful means that achieve international peace and security as a joint objective for which all countries strive for peoples' happiness.
He discussed Qatar's successful experiences in external development work through the Qatar Investment Authority, adding that the country has co-operation and coordination prospects and ties with Pacific Islands that have been initiated since 2017 when the Pacific Islands Development Forum was convened at the margins of the First High-Level Pacific Blue Economy Conference (PBEC).
HE al-Muraikhi reaffirmed that Qatar is committed to bolstering ties of friendship, co-operation, inter-cultural and inter-civilisational dialogue that contribute to achieving peace, human development and respect for peoples' cultural and civilised privacies.
He underscored the importance of moving forward to strengthening Arab relations with Pacific island states because of the criticality of bolstering and adapting them for the benefit of the peoples of the two regions, adding that stemming from this point what has been initiated and agreed on - pertaining to Abu Dhabi Declaration issued by the meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers and the Pacific Island states on June 24, 2010 - should be accomplished with intensifying the periodic political consultations and promoting cooperation forums among them.
