The Secretary-General of the Arab Towns Organization (ATO), Abdel-Aziz Al-Adasani on Sunday said its boards of trustees had approved soft loans to several Arab cities for the sake of preserving their historic legacy and achieve their social and economic development.

He made the statement to KUNA, following the end of the first session of a two-day forum which opened in the Syrian capital under the auspices of Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otri.

The session was attended by a Kuwaiti delegation headed by the President of the Kuwaiti Municipal Council Abdel-Rahman Al-Humaidan.

"This is one of the best forums ever held by the organization," Adasani said. He added that, for the first time in the organization's history, the opening session was attended by the local prime minister.

He also described the fund for money lending to Arab cities as "successful." He added that this fund had so far provided some 50 loans to various Arab cities to help their development.

For his part, Humaidan said the financial assistance part was essential to Arab cities.

Meanwhile, Ali Al-Zumai the chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the Kuwaiti investment group AREF called for developing the fund as suggested by the organization.

Al-Zumai called on Arab cities to support the fund's activities. He also underlined the importance of the "participation of the private sector" in the development of Arab cities.