RAMALLAH, Thursday, July 04, 2019 (WAFA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Malki opened the Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD), the first in Palestine, stressing that CEAPAD conference is an effective model for building bridges of communication and transferring of successful experiences in East Asia to Palestine to support the two-state solution.

Malki said that the initiative of the CEAPAD conference gives hope to the Palestinian people, especially in light of Israel‘s control over the Palestinian economy.

He added that with the help of the countries participating in the conference, we hope to move from a state under occupation to a developed country achieving development freely and with dignity.

The minister said that the US-led Manama workshop held last month failed and the so-called American ‘deal of the century’, which wants to turn the political solution into an illusion and offer an economic solution will also fail because all these plans seek to keep the occupation.

He added that Israel is trying to evade the two-state solution and is violating all international laws, including the acquisition of territory by force, stressing that it is no secret that the Israeli occupation wants to end the two-state solution.

The first CEAPAD conference was held in the Japanese capital Tokyo in 2013; the second in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in 2014, and the third edition in the Thai capital Bangkok in 2018.

CEAPAD member states are eight and they include: Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, the Sultanate of Brunei and Palestine. The observer countries and organizations are: South Korea, Egypt, Jordan, the International Quartet, UNRWA and the Islamic Development Bank.

T.R.