The State of Kuwait is preparing to host the 3rd Arab-African Summit, scheduled to be held on November19-20, 2013. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Regional Affairs and the GCC Hamad Al-Amer paid tribute to Kuwait for hosting the event which, he said, stems from the importance of building bridges of cooperation with all Arab and African countries. He commended the pivotal role of the State of Kuwait, led by Amir Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in financing development projects. In a statement to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), Mr. Al-Amer underscored the importance of the African countries’ stances in supporting Arab causes, stressing longstanding Arab-Africa relations and joint interests. “The Arab-African longstanding relations have come of age, hence the need to expand political, developmental and social cooperation”, he said, stressing the need steer economic issues from the political upheavals in the Arab World. Citing updated figures, he said that the joint Arab and African development fnd have topped $4.2 to-date.