LAS: Sustainable development has become a priority

The League of Arab States (LAS) affirmed on Monday that it prioritizes the issue of sustainable development, which has become a permanent and a main item on the agendas of Arab summits, development councils, and specialized economic and social councils. This came during a speech by the Director of the Legal Affairs Department at the Arab League, Maha Bakhit during the celebrations of the World Intellectual Property Day. Bakhit said that LAS took the initiative to organize the first ministerial-level conference in the world on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in April 2016, this conference issued the Arab Declaration for the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She pointed out that the Arab Summit held in Mauritania in 2016 stressed the importance of Arab governments integrating the sustainable development plan into national planning, policies and strategies. Furthermore, Bakhit highlighted that the Arab League, keen on monitoring the implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan 2030, issued a decision by the Economic and Social Council to establish the Arab Committee for Monitoring the Implementation of Sustainable Development Plan. She clarified that this committee has adopted the Arab guidance framework to support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Plan 2030 to develop a unified Arab vision regarding priorities, challenges, and implementation mechanisms. Bakhit emphasized that the Technical Committee on Intellectual Property has taken several decisions to support innovation, industrial property, patents, and the development of infrastructure for intellectual property offices in Arab countries. She noted that this committee consists of government officials responsible for intellectual property offices in Arab countries, and it was agreed that one of the objectives of this committee is to coordinate the Arab position. It is worth mentioning that on April 26 of each year, the world celebrates World Intellectual Property Day to hi ghlight the important role played by intellectual property in encouraging innovation. Kuwait is represented at the ceremony by a representative of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from the Department of Commercial Relations. Source: Kuwait News Agency