Damascus, Oct. 29 (SANA) – The Executive Bureau of the Arab Ministers of Housing and Construction Council held on Wednesday its 70th meeting at the headquarters of the Arab League's General Secretariat with the participation of Syrian Minister of Housing and Construction Omar Ghalawanji and Director of the General Housing Establishment Elias al-Duwairi.

Talks during the meeting discussed preparations for the upcoming Arab Economic, Developmental and Social Summit which will be held in Kuwait in January, with the Bureau deciding to adopt the Project for Providing Housing to Arab Citizens and present it to the summit.

They also reviewed the work of the Arab Unified Construction Codes Committee, with Syria in charge of the Arab code for pre-cast concrete constructions and the Arab code for protection from lightning, while a number of Arab countries are in charge of other codes.

The Bureau also adopted the slogan "Environmentally-friendly Housing is a Right for Everybody" for the 2009 celebration of the Arab Housing Day, in addition to studying the gap between housing needs and available offers, calling for providing nominations for the Arab Ministers of Housing and Construction Council award for 2009, and reviewing the minutes of the committee for studying the project for setting registration and classification rules for Arab consultative architectural offices and companies.

H. Sabbagh / Mazen