The executive office of the council of Arab housing ministers will convene its 79th session at the Arab League (AL) general secretariat on Wednesday.

Essam bin Saeed, the Saudi Housing Minister, will chair the meeting, a senior AL official said on Tuesday.

The meeting will tackle an Arab draft strategy for housing and sustainable rural development, said Dr Gamal Gaballah, the director of the environment department at the pan-Arab body.

The strategy, he added, aims to boost Arab cooperation in the fields of housing and rural development.

He made it clear that the executive office will study the strategy and refer it to the Arab housing ministers, who are scheduled to meet in December.

The executive office will also probe preparations for the ministerial forum that Egypt will host, Gaballah said.

The executive office groups, besides Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco and the Comoros.