UAE strongly backs GCC efforts to boost integration

Abu Dhabi : His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, praised the outcome of the Gulf Cooperation Council Consultative meeting held on Monday in Riyadh, and stressed the importance of joint GCC work to expand avenues of cooperation among member countries.

Shaikh Mohammad said that such initiatives would increase the GCC's integration and efficiency for the greater benefit of the people while ensuring stability and development across Gulf nations. Shaikh Mohammad was speaking during a cabinet meeting held yesterday at the Presidential Palace.

Shaikh Mansour Bin Zay-ed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, attended the meeting.

Shaikh Mohammad said that the UAE had witnessed massive development and also grown in its international role by being active within the GCC, the Arab world and on the global stage.

Founding ideals praised

Shaikh Mohammad attributed the UAE's success in this role to the foundations put in place by its founding fathers and a foreign policy based on principles of cooperation and focused on the benefit of the people.

During the meeting, the cabinet approved the UAE joining the Gas Exporting Countries forum, which includes 12 major gas supplying countries. It also approved the UAE decision to join the Arab Union of Land Transport, a body that specialises in the development and growth of the transportation sector in the Arab world. The body aims to facilitate the movement of passengers, environmentally friendly transportation, and tourism between Arab countries. It also boosts trade cooperation among major land transportation companies in Arab countries.

The cabinet approved an air transportation and services agreement between the UAE and Lithuania under which both nations agreed to facilitate the weekly transport of passengers and products without any restrictions.

The cabinet also approved a memorandum forwarded by the Ministry of Finance regarding provision of services pertaining to standard specifications, quality conformance, and the UAE Quality mark, which is accorded by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology. The memorandum aims to regulate these services to ensure the quality of consumer goods and their compliance with UAE specifications and standards.