ARAB ECONOMIC UNITY, COUNCIL OF

Arabic Al-jam'iyah Al-'arabiyah Lil-wihdah Al-iqtisadiyah, Arab organization established in June 1957 by a resolution of the Arab Economic Council of the Arab League. The first meeting of the council was held in 1964. Membership is composed of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestine Liberation Organization, Somalia, The Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The council's focus is regional, devoted to achieving economic integration through the framework of economic and social development. An agreement within the council established (1964) the Arab Common Market between Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, and Syria, later joined by Libya, Mauritania, and Yemen; its members facilitate the international movement of capital, goods, and people.