The Shura Council State of Qatar

His Excellency Dr. Ahmed bin Nasser Al-Fadala, Chairman of the Association of Secretaries-General of Arab Parliaments and Secretary-General of the Shura Council, stressed the great interest that the State of Qatar, under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the country, attaches to the efforts, activities and achievements of the Association of Secretaries-General of Arab Parliaments, through its interaction With the latest regional and international issues.

In his speech, HE Dr. Al Fadala praised the development witnessed by the association's performance recently, the achievements it has achieved, and its active participation in parliamentary forums and platforms, including, for example, its participation in the work of the second meeting of the Call for the Sahel, which was held in February in Algeria under the title "engaging communities in the prevention of violent extremism", at a time when the number of tasks entrusted to the association by the Arab Parliamentary Union and member parliaments to perform administrative or legislative parliamentary tasks that serve the Arab parliaments has increased.

In return, the association's interests have also increased, and its membership in parliamentary organizations and unions has multiplied, which requires everyone to make more efforts and work to keep up with these requirements, as well as evaluate the association's financial situation and seek to attract additional resources commensurate with the increased burden on it.

His Excellency pointed out the importance of the presence of members of the association and their participation in various unions, organizations, and parliamentary gatherings while using this presence to hold meetings on behalf of the association on the sidelines, which contributes to highlighting the association's name and role in parliamentary work and provides an opportunity to exchange opinions and hold discussions on various issues of interest to the association, reiterating the importance of the participation of secretaries-general in the association's meetings.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of his speech, HE President of the Association of Secretaries-General of Arab Parliaments condoled the sisterly Kingdome of Morocco on the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco on Monday, as well as condoled the sisterly state of Libya on the floods and torrents that hit the country on Sunday, as the two disasters left several deaths, injured, and missing.

He expressed, on behalf of all participants in the conference, sincere condolences and solidarity with the Kingdom of Morocco and the state of Libya, government and people, in this great tragedy, and their condolences to the families of the victims of the earthquake and floods, wishing for mercy and forgiveness for the dead and a speedy recovery for the injured.

On his part, HE Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC) Mouhamed Khouraichi Niass expressed in his speech his sincere thanks to the State of Qatar and the Shura Council for hosting this important conference and congratulated the Association of Secretaries-General of Arab Parliaments on being selected as an observer member in the union during its 17th session held in Algeria in January.

He called on the members of the association to participate in the fifth meeting of the association of general secretaries of the union of councils of member states of the OIC set to be held in early 2024 in Abidjan to provide the association with their rich experiences to meet the aspirations of its members in the Islamic world.

Niass said that choosing the topic of "Digital Democracy and Social Communication and the Role of Parliaments in Strengthening Them" as the theme of Tuesday's conference in Doha reflects the association's ambitions to adapt and keep pace with the digital developments to strengthen democracy through the Arab parliamentary and legislative councils.

He stressed the importance of the role of the members of Arab legislative councils in this field and providing proposals and easing the path of their councils in this field, especially with the worrying reality of artificial intelligence and its consequences and benefits.