GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee Approves Several Regulations and Resolutions to Accelerating GCC Economic Integration

Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi said that in implementation of the directives of the leaders of the GCC countries to consolidate the foundations and regulations of the Gulf economic structures, the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee approved, during their meeting on Thursday, several regulations and resolutions that will contribute to accelerating and increasing the economic integration of the GCC countries.

The GCC Secretary-General’s statements came during the 120th meeting of the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee, held today in the Omani capital, Muscat. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Finance of the Sultanate of Oman and the Chairman of the current session, Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, in the presence of the committee members.

At the beginning of the meeting, the GCC Secretary-General expressed his sincere feelings of appreciation and gratitude for the efforts and tireless work made by the Sultanate of Oman to strengthen the progress of the Council, its support, assistance and interest to the joint Gulf action.

During his speech, the Secretary-General referred to the directives of the GCC leaders in their previous meetings, the most recent of which was their instructions in the 18th consultative meeting held in Jeddah last July, to focus on the economic aspects, especially completing the remaining steps to establish the GCC Customs Union and the GCC Common Market to reach economic unity in 2025.

Moreover, he stressed that these directives from the GCC leaders come within the framework of their interest in advancing the path of the Cooperation Council and benefiting from the accomplishments achieved to serve the council countries, their peoples and their well-being in addition to achieving further coordination, integration and interdependence among the GCC countries, underlining the significance of comprehensive economic integration to achieve complete integration between any regional grouping, in line with the aspiration of the GCC countries leadership and peoples.

Furthermore, Albudaiwi stressed that the Cooperation Council countries are taking serious steps towards diversifying their income and not relying on natural sources as a source of income at a time when steps have continued to enhance levels of economic diversification and efforts to reform business environments, encourage investment, support the role of the private sector, and develop and support human capital.

Elaborating further, he said this was reflected in the invitation of the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to join the membership of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) Group, and what resulted on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) meetings in the establishment of the economic corridor linking India to Europe, passing through the GCC countries, underscoring the importance of these two prominent events and their positive repercussions on the Cooperation Council countries and the improvement of its regional and international economic standing.

For their part, the members of the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the General Secretariat for the achievements and efforts made, the latest of which what has been accomplished by the GCC negotiating teams by signing the Free Trade Agreement between the Cooperation Council countries and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, expressing their aspiration that this agreement will be the first of many agreements to come.

Several key issues related to strengthening financial and economic cooperation between the GCC countries were discussed during the meeting, while the Committee was informed of the recommendations submitted to it by the GCC Committee of Central Bank Governors, the GCC Customs Union Authority, the GCC Joint Market Committee, and the progress of the programme to achieve economic unity between the GCC countries by 2025.