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Arab News — The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.) with a combined economy of $715 billion makes history today with the launch of a common market, which is expected to draw more foreign investment to the region.
G.C.C. Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah described the launch of the Gulf Common Market on Jan. 1 as “historic”, adding that it would ensure “economic equality” among G.C.C. citizens.
The G.C.C., which was formed in 1981, groups Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The decision to launch the common market was taken by the group’s leaders at their last summit, which was held in Doha on Dec. 3 and 4. They also announced plans to achieve a currency union by 2010.
“The Gulf Common Market aims to create one market... raising production efficiency and optimum usage of available resources and improving the G.C.C.’s negotiating position in international economic forums,” said a final communiqué issued at the end of the two-day summit.
The market offers equal opportunities for all G.C.C. citizens including the right to work in all government and private institutions in member states, buy and sell real estate and make other investments, move freely between the countries, and receive education and health benefits, the communiqué said.
G.C.C. economic chief Mohammad Al-Mazroui said the common market would increase investments and trade between member countries. “It will also strengthen the position of member states in free-trade talks,” mainly with the European Union, Agence France Presse quoted Mazroui as saying.
Some 35.1 million people live in the G.C.C., although citizens of the member states represent around only 60 percent of the total population, the remainder being guest workers.
In addition to allowing the free flow of capital, the common market gives G.C.C. nationals freedom of movement, residency and employment — in both private and public sectors — in all six countries, Attiyah said.
“The common market... will allow the citizens of G.C.C. member states to benefit from opportunities offered by the Gulf economy and will open important areas to G.C.C. and foreign investments,” he said in a statement.
The G.C.C. states also represent more than half of the oil reserves of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (484 billion barrels).
Trade between G.C.C. member states currently account for just around 10 percent of overall foreign trade. But this should increase to 25 percent in the next two years, said Issam Fakhrou, president of Bahrain’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
According to statistics on the organization’s website, G.C.C. foreign trade was $282.8 billion in 2005, a figure which predates the sharp surge in oil prices which boosted revenues for the six countries. “The launch of the market will mark an important step in G.C.C. economic integration,” said Eckart Woertz, program manager in economics at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.
He said the new move demands opening of G.C.C. markets and harmonization of regulations, ranging from labor laws to pension schemes and social security entitlements.
********** Gulf states launch G.C.C. common market RIYADH (AFP) — The six oil-rich Gulf monarchies ushered in the new year on Tuesday by setting up a common market with a combined economy of 715 billion dollars.
The new regional economic grouping should ensure economic equality for Gulf Cooperation Council citizens, G.C.C. Secretary General Abdulraham al-Attiyah said.
He described the launch as "historic" 26 years after the common market was first announced as an objective when the G.C.C. was established in 1981.
In addition to allowing the free flow of capital, the common market should give G.C.C. nationals freedom of movement, residency and employment -- in both the private and public sectors -- in any of the six countries.
"The common market... will allow the citizens of G.C.C. member states to benefit from opportunities offered by the Gulf economy and will open important areas to common and foreign investments," Attiyah told a G.C.C. summit ahead of the launch.
The initiative "will increase investments and common trade between members," G.C.C. economic chief Mohammad al-Mazroui told AFP, adding that it will also "strengthen the position of member states in free-trade talks," mainly with the European Union.
Some 35.1 million people live in the G.C.C., although citizens of the member states represent around only 60 percent of the total population, with the remainder foreign expatriates working there.
Kuwaiti economist Hajjaj Bukhbur said the common market would boost G.C.C. negotiating power.
"This will place the Gulf states as one of the largest global economies," he told AFP.
It would "facilitate establishing economic agreements between G.C.C. countries and the rest of the world and give the G.C.C. stronger negotiating power in those deals."
Qatar's Al Watan newspaper warmly welcomed the launch of the market, calling it a "strategic step towards complete economic integration."
The G.C.C. groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which together account for a total surface area of 2.6 million square kilometres (1.04 million square miles).
Sitting on 484 billion barrels of oil, they also represent more than half of the oil reserves of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The six formed a customs union agreement in 2003, a condition set by the European Union, the G.C.C.'s main trading partner, for a free trade agreement between the two blocs.
Trade between G.C.C. member states currently represents just around 10 percent of overall foreign trade.
However this should increase to 25 percent over the next two years, said Issam Fakhrou, president of Bahrain's chamber of commerce and industry, in a statement on Monday.
According to statistics posted on the organisation's website, G.C.C. foreign trade was 282.8 billion dollars in 2005, a figure predating the sharp surge in oil prices which greatly boosted revenues for the six.
The G.C.C. also plans to achieve monetary union by 2010. This deadline appears increasingly unattainable, however, because some members have high inflation and the US dollar, to which most G.C.C. currencies are pegged, continues to fall in value.
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The Gulf in The Press 
