UAE participates in GCC Common Market Committee meeting

The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Finance (MoF) participated in the meeting of the GCC Common Market Committee held at the Council General Secretariat Headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 19th to 21st. The purpose of the meeting was to explore how to strengthen financial and economic cooperation among the GCC countries.

Representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology and Ministry of Economy participated in meetings of the GCC Common Market Committee, GCC Industrial Development Committee and technical teams related to GCC investments as part of the UAE delegation.

Younis Haji Al Khoori, Undersecretary for Finance, underlined the importance of the meeting in following up on updates to the GCC Common Market and finding the best way to address challenges that may hinder the fulfillment of its requirements, supporting mechanisms, and activating the Council’s committee work. He also highlighted the UAE’s commitment to cooperating and coordinating with other GCC countries to strengthen joint economic actions in the Gulf and meet the aspirations of GCC leaders and people.

The second joint meeting of the GCC Industrial Development Council and the GCC Common Market Committee was held to review the decisions of the GCC Supreme Council and the GCC Financial Cooperation Committee on the full implementation of the GCC Common Market track. The meeting also discussed challenges raised in the Gulf Industry Consultative Organization (GOIC) study, ways to strengthen government procurement programs and local Gulf content, ways to develop unified strategies and laws across all economic sectors, and support the private sector in the GCC.

The second joint meeting was held between the GCC Common Market Committee and the team responsible for GCC investments. The meeting tried to explain in detail the uniform definition of investment in the GCC countries, and clarify the entities responsible for investment in the member states, their expertise and roles. The meeting also explored ways to harmonize investment laws and regulations with GCC economic agreements and compared rules and conditions for attracting foreign investment. In addition, the meeting considered a mechanism to establish electronic links between the authorities responsible for investments in member states and to resolve disputes over the scope of investments. It also discusses ways to develop an overall framework and strategy for supporting, funding and establishing joint strategic public and private projects in the GCC.

The meeting of the GCC Common Market Committee aims to implement the decisions issued by the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee at its 113th meeting on April 21, 2021. The decision calls for the GCC Common Market Committee to hold joint meetings with the Working Committee to discuss key issues of the GCC Common Market and address challenges in fulfilling the Common Market requirements.

The meeting was held within the framework of the implementation of the work program of the GCC Common Market Committee for 2022-2024, which included several joint meetings with technical committees dealing with GCC Common Market issues. This is based on the decision issued by the GCC Supreme Council at its 42nd session on December 14, 2021. The decision was to assign the GCC Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee to complete the remaining steps of establishing a customs union and implementing the customs union. The GCC common market is tracked by the end of 2024 according to the established timetable.