Civic body team to participate in 3rd Euro-Arab summit

The Dubai Municipality delegation for the preparatory committee headed by Obeid Salem Al Shamsi, Assistant Director-General for Administrative and General Services Affairs, also includes Munther Akram Juma, Director of Public Relations and Organisations Department and Dr Abdelfattah Toukan, Executive Secretary of Dubai International Award for Best Practices.

The meeting will also be attended by the representatives of the Standing Committee of the Euro Mediterranean Partnership (COPPEM), Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), Council of Local Authorities and Regions of Europe (Clare), in addition to Arab Towns Organisation (Ato), which will be represented by Ghassan Samman, Assistant Director-General for Advertising & Foreign Relations Department at Ato, Kuwait.

The meeting will also be attended by Guido Lo Porto, President of the Sicilian Regional Parliament; Salvatore Cuffaro; President of the Sicilian Region and President of the Italy-based COPPEM; Diego Cammarata, Mayor of Palermo and Member of National Parliament; and Francesco Musotto, President of Palermo Province and Member of the European Parliament.

The first preparatory meeting was held in Dubai on the invitation of Ato to discuss the arrangements for the 3rd Euro-Arab Conference.

The meeting chose Dubai to host the event in the second half of November 2006 with wide international participation, like from 100 mayors of world cities, as Dubai and the UAE are well known for their expertise in successfully organising and managing several international events.