CAIRO, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit on Thursday stressed the importance of the Arab region's collective work for alleviating the burdens of COVID-19.

"The unprecedented pandemic crisis with its severe impacts especially on the fragile societies urges the acceleration of the Arab social and economic centralized work," Aboul-Gheit said in a video conference of the Arab Social and Economic Council at the ministerial level.

The virus repercussions have been doubled in the countries that have already suffered from dangerous crises, he said, noting that the spread of COVID-19 happened while the Arab region is passing through exceptional conditions at the political level.

The crisis necessitates many countries to review economic policies for enhancing the medicine and food security, he added, noting that the Arab region still suffers a food gap which requires a solution under a joint Arab work frame.

A report of the Arab Monetary Fund in August expected that the GDP in the Arab countries is likely to shrink by 4 percent in 2020 while the Arab economies are expected to revive in 2021 by 2.6 percent.