Gulf | Bahrain
Bahraini Premier urges Gulf region to pull together
Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, urged Gulf member states to brace for the current economic crisis and called for a collective face to fight the recession as a single economy and protect the region from any crisis which threatens its present and the future.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:31 December 28, 2008
- The citizens of the six GCC countries can move freely in the region, says Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman.
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Muscat: Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain, urged Gulf member states to brace for the current economic crisis and called for a collective face to fight the recession as a single economy and protect the region from any crisis which threatens its present and the future.
He asked Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to taking immediate steps to consolidate and strengthen the Gulf economy.
"At a time when the world is moving towards to set up economic blocs, it is high time that we accelerate the steps for the economic integration of the GCC states," he said in an interview with the Oman-based Arabic daily Al Watan.
Challenge
"The challenges the region confronts increase our faith and determination in the concept of unity," he said in the interview ahead of the 29th GCC Summit to be held in Muscat today and tomorrow.
As he spoke on the GCC, the Bahraini Prime Minister it stimulated a spirit of unity among the Gulf nations.
"The citizens of the six GCC countries can move freely in the region," he pointed out.
"The council is the result of sound economic and political policies," he added.
Shaikh Khalifa feels that more effort should be made to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the peoples living in the GCC countries.
"There are more important areas of cooperation between the six member states, especially regarding a GCC common market, customs union and a single Gulf currency," he said.
"I emphasise the importance to push for greater integration among the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the removal of all barriers and obstacles to trade and investment among them, allowing each member state to benefit from the comparative advantages," he added.
In Shaikh Khalifa's opinion, the integration of Gulf countries had become unavoidable.
"At a time when the whole world is moving towards the establishment of economic blocs, it is high time that we accelerated the remaining steps for the economic integration of the GCC states," he said.
Nuclear plans
He also said spoke on Bahrain's nuclear plans, saying his country wanted to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and to be inducted to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The GCC is currently studying the possibility of the development and production of nuclear energy for peaceful uses in the region," Shaikh Khalifa revealed.
Shaikh Khalifa also pointed out that the GCC region needed to generate electricity from from nuclear energy, a much cheaper source of power.
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