Jordan's Minister of Youth, Dr. Raid Sami Al-Adwan, opened the 21st Arab Capitals Youth Meeting in Amman on Monday, representing Prime Minister in the ceremony. The event, organised by the Ministry of Youth in cooperation with the Arab League, is held under the theme "Youth and E-sports in Developing Creative Thinking", according to a statement from the ministry.
اضافة اعلان
The opening was attended by Environment Minister Dr. Ayman Suleiman; Faisal Ghassal, Minister Plenipotentiary and Director of the Youth and Sports Department at the Arab League and official of the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Council of Youth and Sports Ministers; Ministry of Youth Secretary-General Dr. Mazen Abu Bakr; Ministry of Culture Secretary-General Dr. Nidal Ayasrah; and Greater Amman Municipality Chairman Engineer Ahmad Al-Mallkawi, along with ambassadors of the participating Arab states and representatives of official institutions, youth bodies and civil society organisations.
In his remarks, Al-Adwan said that Jordanian youth benefit from royal patronage that has placed young people at the top of national priorities and directed successive governments to advance the youth sector. He described the Arab Capitals Youth Meeting as an opportunity to exchange experiences and propose initiatives that would strengthen Arab youth cooperation, adding that any recommendations produced by participants would be placed on the agenda of the Arab Council of Youth and Sports Ministers.
Al-Adwan said the e-sports and gaming sector had moved beyond entertainment to become a global digital industry and a strategic contributor to the national economy, capable of creating quality employment and developing the skills of young people. He said Jordan had become a regional hub in this sector.
Al-Adwan also commended the Arab League and the Arab Council of Youth and Sports Ministers for implementing youth programmes that create opportunities for young people to meet and exchange expertise.
Ghassal, speaking on behalf of the Arab League, said the organisation was committed to Arab youth out of a belief in their capacity to turn challenges into opportunities and aspirations into reality. He said the Amman meeting went beyond sport and technology, opening space to discuss a world in which creative tools were changing and competitive arenas expanding, giving young people greater ability to create opportunities and transcend boundaries.
Ghassal said e-sports had become a field where sport and technology converge - combining quick thinking with precise decision-making, talent with knowledge, competition with teamwork, and technology with human imagination.
Speaking on behalf of the participating Arab delegations, Shahad Al-Qa'tabi of the Yemeni delegation said the meeting's being held in Jordan represented an opportunity for Arab youth to gather in their second home, praising the warmth of the reception and the spirit of Arab fraternity that had surrounded the delegations since their arrival.
She said the 21st Arab Capitals Youth Meeting had, through its successive editions, demonstrated its success in bringing Arab youth together, strengthening communication and cooperation, enabling the exchange of views and expertise, and building bridges between young people across the Arab world.
The opening ceremony included a video highlighting the meeting's history across previous years, as well as a heritage arts performance by the Ma'an Folk Arts Troupe. The five-day programme includes youth dialogues, meetings with specialists, experience-sharing between delegations, field visits, and an Arab heritage and cultural exhibition.
The meeting aims to highlight the role of e-sports in developing creative thinking among youth, strengthen digital skills, encourage innovation, and facilitate the exchange of experience between Arab youth delegations. Participating countries are Yemen, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Somalia, Lebanon and Morocco, alongside Jordan.
This article is based on material from Ministry statement
