Ammon News - Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah II, His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal participated, on Friday, in the eighth edition of the Rome Med – Mediterranean Dialogue, an annual high-level conference on Mediterranean geopolitics.

In a speech, Prince El Hassan emphasized the necessity of enhancing regional integration and cooperation, relying on policies that increase the region's effectiveness and influence in resolving various issues, and fostering a culture that asserts the universality of values, diversity, and acceptance of others.

More than 200 speakers from 60 countries are taking part in the high-profile event which was opened by Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

His Royal Highness said that the Mediterranean region has historically been a gateway for convergence, an important outlet between Africa and Eurasia, and a key to establishing intercontinental contacts in what geographer Halford Mackinder calls the "Island of the World" (Afro-Eurasia).

Prince El Hassan urged the development of the Great Rift Valley which stretches from the eastern Mediterranean to the southeast Dead Sea and the Red Sea and on south through East Africa and said many countries in this part of the world struggle with conflicts and political, cultural, and religious challenges, as well as the management of natural resources.

He renewed his call for the formation of a regional economic and social council, with youth participation, to discuss their ideas and vision for the region and unlock their potential.

In addition, he emphasized the importance of using the multiple deprivation index to determine which issues should be prioritized in the context of poverty, food, education, and other basic necessities.

Prince El Hassan stressed the need for a geopolitical database that takes into account religious holy sites in order to firmly establish a "Jerusalem consciousness" and to support the Arab civilization in the Holy City.

His Royal Highness emphasized the need to use technology as a tool for developing evidence-based policies and exchanging information to address crises, as well as the significance of investing in human capital to empower people.

The Rome Med – Mediterranean Dialogue is an annual high-level conference on Mediterranean geopolitics promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Institute of Studies on International Politics. It took place for the first time in 2015 and has since then been hosted every year in Rome, Italy.

The event gathers institutional representatives, experts, analysts, youths and stakeholders from the civil society, from the economic sphere and from the media to discuss the main challenges in the Mediterranean region and to bolster intra-regional cooperation, based on four pillars: "Shared security"; "Shared prosperity"; "Migration"; "Culture and civil society".