Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meet in Manama on Sunday evening to finalize the agenda for the GCC leader’s 33rd Summit, which includes topics related to joint Gulf work, in addition to discussing recent regional and international political issues.
Ministers of the six Gulf States will discuss during their preparatory meeting for the upcoming summit on December 24-25, several political, economic, social and development files aimed at supporting the council’s work, and achieving greater integration and cooperation among the Gulf countries and its people, reported the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA. The Ministerial Council will review the most important items on the agenda, which includes a host of political, economic, social, environment, education and health matters, in addition to following up on strategic dialogues and negotiations between the GCC countries and international blocs.
As the GCC Customs Federation celebrates its 10th anniversary since it has come to being, simultaneously the Gulf states are keen on entering into the phase of the Gulf Union, and so each and every member state of the Gulf Union will act as a point of import/export for each other and this facilitates the inflow/outflow of goods especially as the GCC Customs Federation will become as one of the most significant components of the would-be Gulf Union.
There will no more unnecessary and cumbersome unilateral imports/exports restrictions or banning; there will be more customs and tariffs exemptions. Goods imported by the Gulf Union’s member states can be taxed upon exiting any of the duty-free zones. However, the situation will be different for tobacco and its derivatives.
Bahrain as one of the GCC –member states has fulfilled the preconditions to join into the proposed Gulf Common Market and issuance of the unified Gulf currency by virtue of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s atmospheres of economic freedom which has allowed citizens from its sisterly GCC states to freely establish their own business and to own property in Bahrain.