Saudi Arabia, represented by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, is hosting the fifteenth edition of the International Conference on Air Services Negotiations (ICAO) 2023, affiliated with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which will be held in the capital, Riyadh, during the period from 3 to 7 December, with the participation of more than 100 countries and international organizations and more than 700 experts and specialists in the field of civil aviation.
Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the “ICAO” conference comes in light of the generous sponsorship and unlimited support that the air transport sector enjoys from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness the Crown Prince. It also comes from the Kingdom’s pioneering position in developing and growing the air transport industry to achieve the highest levels of safety and security and keep pace with rapid developments. In this industry.
The ICAO conference, which is the largest international event of its kind for negotiating and discussing air transport affairs, aims to keep pace with the rapid development in the global air transport industry, as delegations of countries meet to hold negotiations and consultations on a bilateral or multilateral basis regarding air services, with the aim of providing services. It is better for the air transport community and facilitates the establishment of links between regulators, air operators, and related service providers, with the positive advantages it entails for accelerating negotiation mechanisms.
The Conference Schedule
On the sidelines of its work, the conference is scheduled to witness a number of prominent regional meetings, including the 68th meeting of the Executive Council of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, and the extraordinary meeting of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the presence of the heads of civil aviation authorities in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
The opening of the conference will witness large international participation, in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Logistics and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, the President of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Duailej, and the heads of civil aviation authorities from various participating countries. It will also witness the holding of an award ceremony. Facilities are hosted by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and the conference concludes on December 7, 2023, in conjunction with the celebration of World Civil Aviation Day.
The Saudi civil aviation sector to become the first sector in the Middle East
For his part, the Chairman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation explained that the ICANO 2023 conference will serve as a global platform for air transport negotiations, through which we will review the empowerment and provision of investment opportunities available in the Kingdom through the National Aviation Strategy, which seeks to enhance the capabilities of the Saudi civil aviation sector to become the first sector in the Middle East by 2030, in order to achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics, with the aim of increasing the Kingdom’s air connectivity from 99 destinations to more than 250 destinations through 29 airports and increasing annual passenger traffic threefold to reach 330 million passengers. Establishing two global centers for international air connectivity, and increasing air cargo capacity to 4.5 million tons.
Also Read: https://www.icao.int/meetings/pages/upcoming.aspx
Saudi Arabia’s Support for civil aviation organizations
It is noteworthy that the Kingdom has always supported civil aviation organizations regionally and internationally through financial, moral, and logistical support to advance the industry in the world, through its membership in the organization’s council, the chairmanship, and membership of many of the organization’s executive committees and the participation of a number of the authority’s representatives in the work of the organization and its related committees.
In the aspects of air transport, security, safety, and air navigation, and the financial support that contributes to the development of the work of this organization, the most recent of which was the generous approval of the Kingdom’s donation to the International Civil Aviation Organization initiative (Leaving No Country Behind) in the amount of one million US dollars. It is also keen to strengthen efforts aimed at supporting the development of Human resources working in the sector, raising the level of civil aviation security, as well as encouraging a culture of safety among aviation service providers in developing countries, least-developed countries, and island countries.
