Syria joins preparatory meetings ahead of Arab League Summit

A Syrian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad is participating in a meeting at the foreign ministerial-level that kicked off yesterday in the Saudi city of Jeddah in preparation for the 32nd Arab League Summit, the first time President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime has participated in Arab summits since 2011.

Mekdad arrived in Jeddah on Tuesday evening.

He was cited by the official Syrian news agency, SANA, as saying that his country’s participation in the summit is an opportunity for Damascus to tell fellow Arabs that it is not looking to the past, but to the future.

Syrian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade, Mohammed Samer Khalil, also participated in the Economic and Social Council preparatory meetings and called for Arab investment in Syria in light of the promising opportunities in the country and new laws that aim to attract investment.

Syrian Assistant Foreign Minister, Ayman Sousan, also participated for the first time in 12 years.

READ: Reconciliation with Assad is a strategic mistake and backward step for the Arab world