RIYADH: The second ministerial meeting between the League of Arab States and the Pacific Small Island Developing States issued the Riyadh Declaration on Tuesday, to strengthen cooperation between the two sides following their meeting in the Saudi capital. The declaration detailed multiple areas of potential cooperation, as well as support for Saudi Arabia’s bid to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh.  Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan chaired the meeting on Monday, which was attended by Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.  One of the key purposes of the meeting was to review relations between the Arab League and the PSIDS, and to expand old partnerships as well as launch new ones.  According to the Saudi Press Agency, the meeting “affirmed that the Arab states and Pacific Small Island Developing States are steadfast in their dedication to achieving peace, harmony, and continued prosperity for their peoples, cultures, and lands.”  One of the key discussions of the meeting was over support for Saudi Arabia’s bid for Riyadh to host Expo 2030. As a part of the Riyadh Declaration, the meeting resulted in a mutual agreement to enhance cooperation and establish partnerships between the Arab League and PSIDS in various fields of common interest, including diplomatic relations, their respective economies, trade, investment, renewable energy, tourism and transportation, as well as environmental protection. Other areas of cooperation discussed included the preservation of maritime zones, biodiversity, meteorology, responses to natural disasters, science and technology, communication, marine resources, culture and dialogue between various civilizations, education, scientific and academic exchange, health and humanitarian aid, infrastructure development, capacity building, human resources development, agriculture, food security, and sustainable development, as well as people-to-people relations. No new memorandums of understanding were signed, but as a result of the meeting the Arab League and PSIDS agreed to take steps towards signing an MoU to deepen the ties between them in future.  The meeting also stressed the importance of raising the level of coordination and consultation between the Arab League and PSIDS.  The parties emphasized the need for mutual support between Arab countries and relevant Pacific island nations over the issues raised at the UN and other international organizations, and the two sides underlined the importance of holding bilateral meetings between their respective ministers on the sidelines of international events such as those held under the auspices of the UN General Assembly in New York. Another result of the meeting was a mutual agreement to work on increasing the level of diplomatic representation between both sides. This means encouraging the exchange of diplomatic offices in Arab countries and relevant Pacific island nations in order to activate cooperation in various fields. The first ministerial meeting of members of the League of Arab States and the PSIDS took place 13 years ago, in June 2010 in Abu Dhabi.  Closing the meeting, the delegations agreed to convene the third ministerial meeting at a venue and time to be decided.