The Arab Planning Institute A Successful Joint Arab Work [Archives:2000/04/Law & Diplomacy]
January 24 2000
Mohammed Bin Sallam of Yemen Times met with the Kuwaiti Minister and also with Dr. Essa M. Al-Ghazali, Director General of the Arab Planning Institute and filed the following:
Q: Is it the first time you visit Sana’a?
A: Yes, it is the first and I am happy to have the chance to know a country that I always wanted to visit. On this occasion I would like to thank Mr.. Ahmad Sufan, Minister of Planning, Deputy Minister and Ministry staff for the warm reception I have received. At the same time I thank the Prime Minister, Dr. Abdul Karim Al-Iryani and President Ali Abdullah Saleh for hosting this meeting which I hope will lead to further cooperation.
Q: Can you give us an idea about the issues that were discussed in the meeting in Sana’a?
A: The meeting was the first for secretaries of the Arab Planning Institute. One of the most important issues we discussed was the Institute’s activities in 1998, 1999. There were also other issues that were discussed such as, the budget for the year 1998-1999, the plan for funding the Institute, following up some of the previous decisions, appointing Dr. Essa Al-Ghazali as Director-General of the Institute and other issues.
Q: What are the fields of cooperation between the Institute and the Arab countries in general, and Yemen in particular?
A: In fact, the institute offers a lot of services and activities to the Arab countries including training services. In this regard, the Institute offers more than 50 training programs every year and it offers diplomas and consultations as well. The institute also publishes books, holds and organizes conferences and sessions, makes studies on related fields and so on. On the other hand, the Institute tries to cooperate with other regional and international institutes in order to make available better services. Of course, Yemen benefits from our services especially from our training programs, meetings, seminars, etc. We, of course, encourage all Arab countries to benefit from the services offered by the Institute.
Q: The Institute provides decision- makers in the Arab countries with consultations and advice, how do you evaluate the work of the Arab Institute during the last phase?
A: Let me first tell you something, in the strategy we discussed there was a trend to benefit from the information technology and long-term training in addition to provide the decision- makers in the Arab countries with consultations, especially in relation to administrative development and planning. Concerning your question I think that many countries have benefited from the institute, at least there has been an exchange of points of view and expertise. They have benefited from the experiments of the advanced countries participating with us in some of our discussions, seminars etc.
Yemen is an active member in the council and always participates in training courses, seminars and conferences and I appreciate what the Yemenis do in this regard. Yemen also benefits from the experiences of the other countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Kuwait for example. At the same time Yemen can avoid the mistakes done by these countries in their previous experiments. I am very optimistic about Yemen and I am sure that it will make remarkable steps in the near future.
Q: What about the interval periods for studying the activities of the Council?
A: The council holds a meeting twice a year to discuss the budget and follow up what has been decide before. The Director-General is always in touch with members of the Institute and in addition to this, we can hold an emergency meeting if it is required.
Q: How do you foresee the future of cooperation between your ministry and the Ministry of Planning in Yemen?
A: In my talks with Mr. Sofa, Minister of Planning, we felt that there was going to be cooperation between us, for example, in exchanging expertise and information . At the same time we can activate the Institute to serve Yemen in all fields.
Q: Any last word?
A: I am very happy that I am in Yemen and I thank people in Yemen for their warm reception and solidarity. I also thank the government hoping it more success under the leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
We have also conducted an interview with Dr. Essa Al-Ghazali, Director General of the Arab Planning Institute.
Excerpts.
Q: What are your new plans to build the new Kuwait in the new century?
A: The Ministry of Planning is trying to keep abreast with the new developments taking place in the world, like globalization and information revolution. We are also trying to improve the training activities to cope with the new changes in the information systems especially long distance training. Two weeks ago we were aware of the millennium bug, fortunately Kuwait was able to overcome this problem. In the near future we will make available a trained administrative team to be ready for the 3rd century. In addition there will new changes in some of the legislations and systems serving the Civil Service and the administrative development in order to improve efficiency of the government offices.
Q: When was the Institute established? What are its objectives?
A: The institute was established in two phases. The first one was in 1966 and it was called the Middle East Institute for Economic Development and it was established and run in cooperation with Kuwait and the United Nations, the UNDP. Some Arab countries liked the Institute to continue after the end of the cooperation with the United Nations. Therefore, in 1980 the Institute started with a new name, The Arab Planning Institute, headquartered in Kuwait. 15 Arab countries joined the institute in addition to the Arab Fund and Kuwait Fund. The UNDP also has a representative in the Institute.
The main objective of the Institute is technically supporting the Arab countries in fields of social and economic development. This role is practiced through three activities:
1- Qualifying Arab cadres through the annual training courses it holds either inside or outside Kuwait and also through seminars, workshops and meetings and the like.
2- Doing researches that aim at providing decision-makers in the Arab world with details and information they need. The institute spreads the scientific research through researches done by the Institute staff, organizing international conferences and inviting experts. Such researches and studies are always published in a periodical owned by the Institute.
3- Providing the decision- makers with specialized consultations whenever they need. These are the three dimensions the Institute work is based on.
Q: What about the strategy for the coming five years?
A: The strategy, of course, is wide and it will result in the five coming years in many different plans. Within these five years the institute will try to enlarge the base of beneficiaries and verify the training programs for the Arab countries. Of course we take into consideration the great technological development in the world and we try to take advantage of it to serve the Institute. We also take into consideration the new challenges facing our Arab world like globalization, privatization, etc.
Q: Do you think that Yemen really benefits from the services of the Institute?
A: Certainly. Like the other Arab countries it benefits from it and I would like to mention that the Institute offers its services to all Arab countries be them members or not. Yemen is a member in the Institute and it benefits from all its services through sending students to the Institute or benefiting from the experts of the Institute to make specialized studies to Yemen.
Q: Were all the previous decisions of the Institute implemented?
A: Of course, our decisions are technical and not compulsory. We just offer our consultations to a country if it requests us to do so and it is up to it to benefit from it or not.
Q: What is the budget of the Institute and who finances its activities?
A: The estimated budget for the five coming years is about 6,5 million Dinars. Members and the Institute administration.
Q: Do members pay equal shares ?
A: No, each country pays as much as it can.
Q: Does Yemen pay its share?
A: I prefer to let such information for the Institute Secretaries Council.
Q: What are the conditions required in the Director-General?
A: The agreement stipulates that the Director -General must be from Kuwait.
Q: How was Sana’a chosen for this meeting?
A: Simply, we were invited by the Yemeni representative to hold the meeting in Sanaa and the Secretaries Council accepted the invitation.
Q: Can this be considered part of the bilateral approach between Yemen and Kuwait?
A: This is not my business. I speak just as the Director-General of the Institute.
Q: How do you evaluate the work of the Institute?
A: I think that it is one of the most successful joint Arab action through its non-stop activities and its international relationship. This goes back to the members’ determination to present a scientific pioneering institution. I think that it has been successful over the 30 past years.
Q: Any last word?
A: I thank Yemen. I am happy to be in Yemen and I hope I will be back here again.
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