[07/September/2010]
JEDDAH, Sep. 7 (Saba) - Kuwait's chief diplomat Sheikh Mohammed Salem Al-Sabah said on Tuesday that the march of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) may be "slow but firm", Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) has reported.

Speaking at a joint news conference with GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah, Kuwait's foreign minister highlighted the importance of the joint meeting of foreign ministers held with ministers of finance, trade and industry over the need to speed up the establishment of the Gulf Common Market and eliminate all hurdles hindering further cooperation among the six member states.

Sheikh Mohammed said that achieving such a feat would further bolster the GCC's role at the World Trade Organization (WTO) toward an effective steering of the international trade policies conforming with the key economic reputation the entity enjoys at the global level.

He said that member states will continue work to achieve a customs union and hold an annual review of the mechanism for this system, as well as setting up an e-clearing system for goods exchanged among them.

Sheikh Mohammed said that there were sharp differences when the idea of the customs union was raised, but noted that such views have been brought closer since then, thus promising a near happy ending to this project.

He said finance ministers are due to refer a final report on the matter to Gulf leaders during the summit in Abu Dhabi.

Regarding GCC-EU negotiations on a free exchange deal, Al-Attiyah said that the European side did not agree to the council's demands, some of which are related to Gulf nationals socially and economically, adding that the GCC decided to halt these talks until the EU changes its mind on the matter.

On the sanctions against Iran, he said that Iranian-Gulf ties are historical ones that governed by joint interests, noting that such actions have been okayed by the international community.

Saba