Faisal Mekdad, the Syrian Foreign Minister, arrived in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, on Monday, May 13th, to participate in the preparatory meetings for the Arab Summit, which will be held at the ministerial level tomorrow, Tuesday.

The Arab League is scheduled to hold its summit at its regular 33rd session on May 16th.

On Sunday, the activities of the preparatory ministerial-level meeting of the Economic and Social Council for the summit commenced.

During his participation, the Syrian Minister of Economy, Mohammad Samer al-Khalil, stated that the Arab world faces significant challenges that require perseverance to develop our countries’ economies and pursue development paths that can alleviate crises for Arab peoples.

He suggested preparing a study on the prospects for Arab economic integration, particularly in food manufacturing, given each country’s capabilities, to establish joint companies that contribute to achieving food security for all Arab countries.

Last Saturday, the preparatory work for the Arab Summit scheduled in Manama began, with a meeting of senior officials of the Economic and Social Council, involving a delegation from the Syrian regime after regaining Syria’s seat in the Arab League a year ago.

On March 26th, the Syrian regime president, Bashar al-Assad, received a written message from the Bahraini king, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which included an official invitation to participate in the summit, delivered by the Bahraini ambassador in Damascus, Waheed Mubarak Sayyar.

The Manama Summit will be the second regular session Arab summit with Bashar al-Assad’s participation since 2010 (he participated back then in the Sirte Summit in Libya), and also his third summit since 2010, following the Arab-Islamic Summit on November 11, 2023, earlier the same year, which focused on the developments in the Gaza Strip.

At that time, al-Assad met for the first time since the start of the revolution in Syria in 2011, in the same room with leaders of countries holding political adversities with his regime.

Bahrain had resumed its political relations with the Syrian regime and reopened its embassy in Damascus on December 28, 2018, a day after a similar move by the UAE.