Riyadh, November 10 (QNA) - HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani took part on Tuesday along with leaders of Arab and South American countries in the opening session of the 4th Summit of Arab and South American countries.

The session is taking place in King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Al Riyadh. The official delegation accompanying HH the Emir also attended the opening session.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud also attended along with Deputy Crown Prince Of Saudi Arabia, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

Other ministers, head of delegations and Arab civil society organizations attended the opening session as well.  

The Custodian of the Two Holly Mosques King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia gave a speech at the opening session in which he praised the previous sessions which took place in each of the Federal Republic of Brazil, the State of Qatar and the Republic of Peru. 

The King of Saudi Arabia expressed his pleasure at the support of South American countries to Arab causes, led by their support to the Palestinian issue. He expressed his eagerness to coordinate efforts in the fight against terrorism and extremism. 

The Saudi King described the prospects of developing the economic relations between Arab and South American countries as "promising." Especially in terms of supporting the flow of investments, exchange of experiences, technology transfer and indigenization and cooperation in all fields. 

Concluding his speech, the Saudi King of Saudi called for establishing a council for the business people of the two regions to consider the signing of free trade agreements and encourage investments, which will provide a legal and regulatory framework to boost trade flows among them.

Then President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissy of the Arab Republic of Egypt delivered a speech on behalf of the Arab side, in the Summit, blessing the convening of this summit, which came at an invitation from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. 

The availability of political will and common ground of principles of issues and human values and cultural and economic principles will pave the way to move towards many prospects for cooperation between the Arab and Latin nations, he said, referring to the significant change in the volume of trade exchange between the two groups from only $ 6 billion in 2004 to over $ 33 billion, considering the current development in this field a real reflection of the cooperation between the two sides. 

He highlighted the need to live up to strengthen these relations and upgrade them to higher levels to achieve prosperity for the Arab as well as the South American. The Egyptian President explained that the Arab region is witnessing unprecedented dangerous developments, under which the countries of the region face real threats to their institutions and that some countries in the region face disintegration and division, threatening their well being. He stressed that his country is witnessing the launch of a process to attract foreign investments, calling for South American countries to take advantage of these opportunities to enter the Egyptian market to invest in it. 

He pointed out that the Palestinian issue is still the core of conflict in the Middle East, saying that ending the Israeli occupation and establishing the Palestinian State with Eastern Al-Quds as its capital would contribute to the stability and security in the region.

Then, the Vice President of the Republic of Uruguay Raul Sendic delivered the speech of the temporary presidency of the Union of South American countries in which he expressed on behalf of all the delegations of South American countries thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Saudi people for the warm reception and hospitality. 

The Vice President of Uruguay stressed that the importance of this summit of the Arab & South American countries summit in Riyadh, pointing out that South American countries considered the relationship with the Arab countries as a top priority. 'We would like to achieve the common goals set since the last summit held in Lima,' he said. 

He explained that there is a set of steps and common objectives that all of us should work to achieve. 'There are also common challenges we face, and we must work together in order to confront them. This Forum should be dynamic and we must take a set of practical steps in order to succeed in our mission,' he said. 

The Vice President of the Republic of Uruguay said that the decline in oil prices had a negative impact on the incomes of many countries, pointing out that the challenge now is how to deal with challenges of economic development and continuation of building the infrastructure, Saudi Press Agency SPA reported. 

He underlined the need for the two regions to play an important role with regard to the course of decision-making at the international level. 

He commended the quest toward greater unity and good relations between the South American and Arab countries, pointing out that in 2005, mechanisms for cooperation were put in place, leading to the development of relations between the two regions . 

At the conclusion of his speech, he stressed that this summit is a step on the way to the future.