Rabat - Mindful of the necessity to coordinate and cooperate with international and regional organizations working in the field of civil aviation in light of the emerging Corona crisis (COVID-19), the Arab Civil Aviation Organization, in coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization - the offices of Cairo, Paris and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) organized a virtual meeting (VTC Meeting) on ​​"potential areas of civil military cooperation in the field of aviation" on June 23, 2020. 59 participants from 15 member states of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization and four regional and international organizations (ACAO, ICAO, IFATCA, NATO) attended the virtual meeting.

The meeting was opened by Eng. Mohamed Rejeb, Air Navigation and Safety Expert on behalf of His Excellency Eng. Abdenbi Manar, Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization and Mr. Sven Hull, Regional Air Traffic Management Administration at the Regional Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Paris and Mr. Ahmed Amira, Regional Officer of Administration Air Traffic, Search and Rescue at the Regional Office of the International Civil Aviation Organization in Cairo and Ms. Maria Rouwaida from NATO. Participants were welcomed and the objectives of the meeting emphasized, i.e. ensure coherence of civil military initiatives in ICAO regions and provide advice and training as appropriate, with regards to the adaptation of aviation capabilities, the integration and safety of aircraft airspace operations with and without drones and the flexibility of aviation against terrorist attacks, including the management of airspace and airports during NATO operations and the adequacy of post-crisis aviation.

During this meeting, the most important recommendations flowing from the very successful joint event of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization and the Civil Aviation Organization on civil military cooperation held in Algiers in 2018 were also presented and a visual presentation was made by the NATO representative on effective civil military cooperation and coordination and projected future cooperation opportunities consisting in providing support and training to Arab countries in the field of civil military cooperation, as well as the possibility to participate in military exercises organized by NATO.

On the other hand, participants shared best practices and professionals in the Arab countries region exchanged knowledge and information in the field of civil military cooperation. According to speakers, effective civil military cooperation and coordination is required not only to meet the requirements of civil and military air traffic in the future in order to increase safety, security, capacity, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, but also to achieve interoperability, smoothness, and compatibility.With the increasing scarcity of airspace and the development of air traffic in the Arab region, countries should take a balanced approach to managing the airspace in a manner that ensures the smooth flow of international air traffic and meets the needs of countries.

Successful cooperation requires cooperation based on communication, education, cooperation and trust between all the stakeholders. The attendees agreed to hold another meeting via the Internet to discuss various measures to be adopted to put into effect the future cooperation opportunities proposed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the field of civil military cooperation.