AARINENA Executive Committee and Cosponsors Representatives (BI, FAO, GFAR and ICARDA) met on the 7th January 2008 in Muscat-Oman. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Ahmed Al Bakri, President of AARINENA.

Highlights of the meeting:

• It was recommended that one of AARINENA task force members participate in the ICARDA/ IFAD expert consultation meeting on small ruminant and report the outcome to AARINENA 11th General Conference.
• It was recommended that Constitional amendments recommended at the last Executive committee meeting be submitted to all full members 60 days before AARINENA 11th General Conference for adoption.
• It was recommended that a brief summary be circulated of the Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) Network proposal to all member countries requesting their interest for hosting the PGR Network Secretariat.
• The Committee reviewed the proposed North Africa Sub-Region Organization (NASRO) Constitution that was based on the Entebbe Declaration, and recommended a memorandum of understanding between AARINENA and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in respect to its contents to be presented for adoption at the 11th General Conference of AARINENA.
• The committee agreed to informally launch Near East Regional Agricultural Knowledge and Information Network (NERAKIN) system at the national information focal units meeting in January 2008 before formal launching in the 11th General Conference of AARINENA in Damascus.
• Regarding revisiting of priority setting exercise the committee recommended to hold an expert consultation meeting on the thematic priorities before the 11th General Conference of AARINENA.
• Regarding the representation of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and NGOs at AARINENA Executive Committee, the committee recommended to contact CGIAR Alliance to recommend ICARDA as CGIAR representative member at Committee and recommended that the elected NGO representative in the WANA region serves as a member for three years followed by farmers' organization representative.
• The Committee approved the membership of Arab Society for Plant Protection (ASPP) on a reciprocal no fee payment basis following the same arrangement between AARINENA and APAARI.
• The Committee recommended that The 11th AARINENA General Conference be held during the period 20-22 October 2008 in Damascus.
• The Executive Secretary briefed the meeting about the financial status up to 31 December 2007. The report showed an increase in the activity expenditures in 2007, and an increase in the country membership status, which resulted in an increase in the balance of the fund as compared to the balance in 2006.