The 14th meeting of experts of NARC member states, kicked off in Algiers, Tuesday 2nd May 2023, with the participation of delegations of all member states.
The meeting was opened by Head of NARC Planning Element, with a statement in which he praised the generous hosting by the brothers in Algeria and the warm reception and hospitality, accorded to all delegations participating in these meetings. He also warmly welcomed all delegations taking part in these meetings.
He described convening of 14th experts’ meeting, followed by the chiefs of staff, at such a high level, for the first time since the launch of NARC, as a very important event and great contribution that drives the pace of NARC work forward.
He also expressed his great appreciation and extended his greetings and admiration to those who contributed to the preparation and organization of these meetings in such an honorable arrangement.
He stressed that over the course of three days, many important topics will be discussed, such as the logistic concept, evaluation of operationalization, and a proposal to conduct NARC field training exercise (FTX), which will be the result and culmination of activities and operationalization process that began since 2021, so that our region assumes its appropriate position.
Then, head of the delegation of experts of Algeria, the country hosting NARC meetings, warmly welcomed the delegations of member states, the Executive Secretariat and the Planning Element.
He stressed that today’s meeting at the level of experts is an additional step in the path of developing the region’s capacity, especially in light of the new dynamism that NARC is witnessing in recent years, which is the process of operationalizing the permanent components of our regional mechanism.
He pointed out that since the launch of the operationalization process, scheduled during the 8th meeting of the Council of Ministers Defense, Algeria, like the rest of member states, has shown a positive response and full support for this process, which would produce tangible results to contribute to further moving forward and in turn upgrade NARC’s work.
In the context of operationalization of NARC components, he stressed that the higher authorities of the Algerian army issued instructions to operationalize the regional logistic base in Jijel, Algeria, by preparing the headquarters and equipping it with the necessary equipment, as well as appointing qualified officers and cadres to occupy positions at this base.
The official in charge of NARC file at the Libyan Ministry of Defense also spoke at the opening session in which he thanked the Algerian leadership and people for the warm reception and hospitality, and saluted heads and members of the participating delegations, as well as the Executive Secretariat and the Planning Element for the effort made and the good preparation for this meeting.
He described NARC meetings in Algeria as important historical moment in NARC’s progress, as for the first time a meeting is held at the level of chiefs of staff of the armies of member states, which necessitates investing this opportunity to work seriously and responsibly and come up with recommendations that rise up to the level of the event.
He also renewed the State of Libya’s emphasis on completing its obligations towards NARC’s three components, leading to full operationalization.
In his speech, the official in charge of NARC file in Egypt welcomed the delegations of the countries participating in NARC meetings, conveying the greetings of the Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces to the participants.
He stressed the efforts made in the past during meetings and workshops, and the sincere desire to continue work to complete what has been achieved to reach realistically full operationalization of NARC.
The official in charge of NARC file in the Sahrawi Republic thanked the Executive Secretariat and the Planning Element for the good preparations for the meeting, and highly appreciated the presidency of the State of Libya of NARC.
He stressed that this meeting is taking place as everyone is moving steadily towards full operationalization of NARC, stressing the commitment of the Sahrawi Republic to its pledges to NARC, expressing readiness of the reconnaissance company of the Northern Brigade.
He expressed his desire to come up with proposals and recommendations that meet the aspirations of the leaders of NARC higher leadership in pushing forward towards full operationalization and readiness.
After the opening session, Member States’ experts proceeded to discuss items on their agenda, which include many important items that would improve work of NARC components, and enhance capabilities of its standby military, police and civilian components.
It is to be noted that NARC comprises the membership of Algeria, Egypt, Libya and the Sahrawi Republic, and its meetings are held annually at the level of member states experts, the Committee of Chiefs of Staff, then the Council of Ministers of Defense.