UAE vows to boost GCC unity

The United Arab Emirates has pledged to support Gulf Cooperation Council unity moves ahead of an important summit meeting of the six GCC leaders to be held in Bahrain this month, officials said.

A ministerial committee that met in Dubai yesterday under the chairmanship of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, discussed several draft laws and agreements designed to regulate ways to boost unified economic and trade activities in the region.

The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Minister of State for Interior Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Saif Khalfan Al Ghaith, Minister of State for Finance and Industry Khalfan Bin Kharbash and Minister of Economy and Planning Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi.

Khaled Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance, said the panel reviewed a busy agenda of the summit that will be finalised by the GCC Ministerial Committee, which will meet in Bahrain on Tuesday.

"The panel reviewed a report by the GCC Secretariat General on what has been achieved toward the common Gulf market and the implementation of recommendations by the Supreme Council, in addition to a special report on the timetable agreed for the single Gulf currency," Al Bustani told a news conference after the meeting.

"Advanced steps have been taken in this respect," he said.

A senior official told Gulf News on Saturday that the panel would draw up the UAE strategy on future negotiations with the United States over the planned Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in a way that would not prejudice the GCC unified customs pact.

The GCC secretariat-general official told Gulf News the focus of the summit will be on bilateral agreements between individual GCC states and foreign countries or trade blocs, and will make sure they do not affect unified Gulf action.

He said the summit also will discuss the draft trade agreement with the European Union that has reached a dead-end after the EU presented conditions that are more politically tinged than purely economic.

"They are setting preconditions like combating terrorism, human rights and other conditions and these have nothing to do with economics," the official said.

Bahrain's two-day ministerial meeting, set to make the preparations for the summit, will discuss two important proposals by the UAE one to host the future Gulf Central Bank and the other to exempt raw and uncut diamonds from customs after the creation of the diamond bourse in Dubai, Al Bustani said.

Other topics on the agenda include the trademark laws, the industrial law and social issues.

Al Bustani said the UAE was the first country in the GCC to abide by rules and regulations pertaining to the economic decisions taken by the Supreme Council.

"There are a number of measures implemented by the UAE in this respect, including allowing all GCC citizens to own shares, take part in wholesale and retail trade and other activities," he added.