Security, Economy on GCC Summit Agenda

RIYADH, 11 November 2007 — Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states are to hold their annual summit in Qatar on Dec. 3-4, amid the violence in Iraq and escalation of the Iran nuclear crisis.

Heads of state of the six GCC states will focus on “Gulf security” at their meeting in Doha, said GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah.

“The summit is important given the regional situation, chiefly the continuing deterioration of the situation in Iraq and the escalation between Iran and the West over its nuclear program,” the secretary-general said.

He said foreign ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would hold a preparatory meeting for the summit in Doha on Monday.

Apart from Iraq, Iran and other regional issues, the ministers will prepare files on economic cooperation, chiefly the planned launch of a GCC common market in early 2008, Al-Attiyah said.

They will also examine obstacles hampering implementation of the customs union launched in January 2003 and examine recommendations of finance and economy ministers on a timetable for a planned monetary union, he said.

Hamad Al-Sayari, the Saudi central bank chief, said last month that GCC states would reassess the economic situation to set a new deadline for the council’s monetary union which was planned for 2010. The GCC leaders are widely expected to reach a final decision in Qatar.

The single currency plan has hit technical, legislative and fiscal hurdles, and Homoud Al-Zidjali, Oman’s central bank governor, announced in May that the sultanate would not join the scheme.

Also in May, Kuwait pegged its dinar to a basket of international currencies in a bid to cut inflation after more than four years of being linked to the dollar like other GCC states.

Economists said Kuwait’s move made it highly unlikely the GCC would meet the 2010 single currency target. Proposals include postponing the deadline or forming a two-speed union, under which those states that are ready would launch in 2010, allowing other countries to join later.