UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai and Casa Arabe Director General Eduardo Lopez Busquets have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advertise sustainable tourism development and strengthen institutional capacity in Arab countries.
Signed at UNWTO headquarters in Madrid, the Memorandum furthers cooperation between UNWTO and Casa Arabe in common interest areas, including sustainable tourism and institutional capacity building aimed towards socioeconomic growth and poverty alleviation.
The agreement places a different deal with improving public policy and management models for tourism development and promotion, in addition to supporting strategic alliances in the framework of promoting and investment in Arab countries to foster economic progress and job creation.
“This agreement is a good step in developing tourism as a fantastic instrument for economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability within the Arab world,” said the UNWTO Secretary-General.
“Tourism development involves the growth of trade between our societies in any respect levels: economic, cultural and sociopolitical, three dimensions that constitute the core work of Casa Arabe,” said Eduardo Lopez Busquets, Director General of Casa Arabe.
Casa Arabe and its International Institute of Arab and Muslim World Studies is a consortium of Spain´s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID), the autonomous communities of Madrid and Andalusia and the city councils of Madrid and Cordoba. Its main goals include strengthening bilateral and multilateral policies and promoting economic, cultural and academic relations within the Arab and Muslim world.