The fourth meeting of the Arab Council of Ministers and the Arab Financial Institutions has begun in Dubai. In his opening address, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Finance Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum called for greater solidarity to face the social and economic challenges in the region.The meeting takes place at a time when the overall growth rate in the Arab world has declined from 4.6 per cent in 2010 to 2.4 per cent in 2011. In many of the Arab nations, the total value of external debt to the Gross Domestic Product has shot up from 22 per cent to 86 per cent.The foreign direct investment in the Arab region has gone down from 20 billion US dollars in 2011 to 16 billion US dollars in 2012.Unemployment in the region is hovering between 18-30 percent. Shaikh Hamdan said that cooperation among Arab countries will lead to labour market expansion, enhance investment as well as boost the mutual trade in the region. He warned that the food crisis in the Arab world is getting bigger and it is expected to reach 89 billion US dollars in 2020. Shaikh Hamdan said that there is a need for agriculture investment worth 65-80 billion US dollars to fill this gap. The President of the Annual Meeting of Arab Financial Institutions and Algeria Minister of Finance, Karim Djoudi said the economic and social polices shoould be geared towards creating job opportunities. He called for medium and long term reforms, increase in investments, establishing institutions, expanding the financial services and enhancing social security programs .The deliberations over the next three days will be focussed on enhancing the economic integration, intra-regional trade and to ensure prosperity and food security.