GCC delegates hold coordination meeting ahead of talks with EU
Gulf states continue task of developing economic work
BRUSSELS, May 3, (KUNA): Senior officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held a coordination meeting at the GCC mission in Brussels Sunday afternoon to prepare for the two-day discussions with the EU on Monday and Tuesday.
During the 26th meeting, the joint EU-GCC cooperation committee will discuss the ongoing work on cooperation between the two sides in accordance with the EU-GCC Cooperation Agreement, GCC Ambassador in Brussels Amal Al Hamad told KUNA.
The 21 st meeting of the EU-GCC political dialogue on the experts level will meet on Tuesday to discuss important political issues including developments in the EU and the GCC and issues of common interests.
The GCC side at the meetings will be led by Qatari Foreign Minister’s Assistant for foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi whose country holds the current rotating GCC Presidency.
The EU side will be led by Hugues Mingarelli, director for Middle East and Southern Mediterranean at the EU foreign service, called the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Earlier on Wednesday, Al Hamad had told KUNA that the 28-member EU and the 6-member GCC seek to deepen and strengthen their strategic relationship.
The GCC, she noted, looks forward to coordinate with the EU to find solutions to establish peace and security in the Gulf and the Middle East regions.
Cooperation
Topics to be discussed include cooperation in energy, research, transport environment, education, development, combating terrorism and terrorism financing.
The meeting will also cover the latest developments in Yemen, Syria, Iraq the Middle East Peace Process, Libya, Iran and fight against terrorism.
The GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
The GCC countries continue working on improving and developing environment and mechanisms of developmental economic work through dealing with several international and regional challenges, the Chief of Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) said.
In his speech in the 46th meeting of Board of Directors of FGCCC on Sunday, Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassem underlined the necessity of developing FGCCC working mechanisms and programs stemmed basically from the federation’s strategies approved in Kuwait.
He added the meeting discusses several topics pertaining to reactivating the role of FGCCC in pushing for the active participation of the private sector in the development of Gulf economic integration programs, including the proposal to host the Gulf Economic Forum in November by Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He expressed his hope that the GEF would be a platform for the private sector to express its aspirations and hopes and to develop its performance so as to serve the GCC development plans.
The one-day meeting attended by the GCC heads of federations and chambers underscored the need to get similar stances of GCC member states towards the issues of work and workers discussed during meetings and conferences.
The meeting considered also the electronic share of employee data in the Gulf chambers of commerce and industry, the adoption of the annual report of the General Secretariat of FGCCC for 2014 and the adoption of the final accounts of the General Secretariat up to December 31, 2014.