The First Technical Meeting of Members´ MENA RSOO was successfully held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the period from 2-4 February 2019.

This meeting aims to discuss documents relating to the establishment of the MENA RSOO. The meeting was attended by six members States and two international Organizations: ACAO and ICAO.

On behalf of HE Eng. Abdulnabi Manar, Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO), Eng. Mohamed Rejeb, Air Navigation and Aviation expert, gave a welcoming speech thanking the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority for inviting this meeting and the good hospitality which reflects the support and interest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the context of raising the level of safety and keeping abreast of developments in order to achieve the strategic objectives of achieving safe and regular transport.

He also assured the attendees of the fruitful cooperation and continuous coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to establish MENA RSOO, hosted by Saudi Arabia and officially announced during the first meeting of the MENA RSOO Steering Committee, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on 1 October 2018 where the Letter of Intent was signed by 15 ACAO member States.

It was also noted that the most important items to be discussed during the meeting were particularly the study of documents on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the Draft Project Document for final agreement in order to be signed by MENA RSOO Member States.

Attendees were also reminded of the most important objectives of this organization, including the following:

• Support the implementation of the State Safety Programme (SSP) by the member States,
• Enhance States´ safety oversight capabilities in order to achieve the GASP objectives, regional priorities and targets and improve compliance with international safety requirements.
• Promote the safe and efficient use and development of civil aviation within and outside the Member States ;
• Promote the implementation of industry best practices within the Member States ; and
• Harmonize regulations, develop guidance materials, conduct audits and inspections, training and consultancies

The establishment of this organization will effectively contribute to the improvement of Aviation safety in the Middle East and North Africa, where we have the strong will of civil aviation authorities in the Member States. We also have the necessary human resources (e.g. auditors, inspectors and investigators, etc.) who have global safety experience to establish organization.

The meeting concluded with several recommendations, including agreement on the final version of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and the Draft Project Document.