Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

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Founding[edit]

Established in Abu Dhabi on 25 May 1981,^[11][12] the original union comprised the 630-million-acre (2,500,000 km²) Persian Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The unified economic agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on 11 November 1981 in Abu Dhabi. These countries are often referred to as "the GCC states".

Objectives[edit]

Among the stated objectives are:

• Formulating similar regulations in various fields such as religious, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration.
• Fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources.
• Establishing scientific research centers.
• Setting up joint ventures.
• Unified military presence (Peninsula Shield Force).
• Encouraging cooperation of the private sector.
• Strengthening ties between their peoples.
• And establishing a common currency by 2010.^{[13][14][15][16]}

However, Oman announced in December 2006 it would not be able to meet the target date. Following the announcement that the central bank for the monetary union would be located in Riyadh and not in the UAE, the UAE announced their withdrawal from the monetary union project in May 2009. The name Khaleeji has been proposed as a name for this currency. If realised, the GCC monetary union would be the second largest supranational monetary union in the world, measured by GDP of the common-currency area.^[14]

This area has some of the fastest growing economies in the world, mostly due to a boom in oil and natural gas revenues coupled with a building and investment boom backed by decades of saved petroleum revenues. In an effort to build a tax base and economic foundation before the reserves run out, the UAE's investment arms, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, retain over $900 billion in assets. Other regional funds also have several hundreds of billions of dollars of assets under management.

The region is also an emerging hotspot for events, including the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Doha also submitted an unsuccessful application for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Qatar was later chosen to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Recently,^[when?] the leaders of the Council have come under fire for doing too little to combat the economic downturn.^{[citation needed]} While GCC countries were among the first hit by—and the first to respond to—the crisis, their programs have been prone to disparities.^{[citation needed]} Recovery plans have been criticized for crowding out the private sector, failing to set clear priorities for growth, failing to restore weak consumer and investor confidence, and undermining long-term stability.^[17]

Logo[edit]

The logo of the GCC consists of two concentric circles. On the upper part of the larger circle, the Bismillah phrase is written in Arabic and on the lower part the Council's full name, in Arabic. The inner circle contains an embossed hexagonal shape representing the Council's six member countries. The inside of the hexagon is filled by a map encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, on which the areas of the member countries are shown in brown.

Organizations[edit]

Patent Office[edit]

The GCC Patent Office was approved in 1992 and established soon after in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.^[18] Applications are filed and prosecuted in the Arabic language before the GCC Patent Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is a separate office from the Saudi Arabian Patent Office. A GCC Patent cannot co-exist with a national application in any of the member states, therefore, a national application must be relinquished within 90 days of filing the GCC Patent Application.^{[citation needed]}

Common market[edit]

A GCC common market was launched on 1 January 2008.^[19] The common market grants national treatment to all GCC firms and citizens in any other GCC country, and in doing so removes all barriers to cross-country investment and services trade. A customs union was declared in 2003, but practical implementation has lagged behind. Indeed, shortly afterwards, Bahrain concluded a separate Free Trade Agreement with the United States, in effect cutting through the GCC's agreement, and causing much friction.

Monetary Council[edit]

This section is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (December 2011)

On 15 December 2009, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia announced the creation of a Monetary Council, a step toward establishing a shared currency. The board of the council, which will set a timetable for establishing a joint central bank and choose a currency regime, will meet for the first time on 30 March 2010. Kuwaiti foreign minister Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah said on 8 December 2009 that a single currency may take up to ten years to establish. The original target was in 2010. Oman and the UAE later announced their withdrawal of the proposed currency until further notice.

Peninsula Shield Force[edit]

Amidst the Bahraini uprising, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent ground troops to Bahrain in order to quell Bahraini protests.^[20][21][22] Kuwait and Oman refrained from sending troops.^[4] Instead, Kuwait sent a navy unit.^[23]

In September 2014 GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar plus pending member Jordan, commenced air operations against ISIL in Syria cooperation with the United States. They also pledged other support including operating training facilities for Syrian Rebels (Saudi Arabia) and allowing the use of their airbases by other countries fighting ISIL.

Secretaries-General[edit]

Member states[edit]

There are six member states of the union:

Flag	Common name	Official name		Type of government
		in English	in romanized Arabic
	Bahrain	Kingdom of Bahrain	Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn	Constitutional monarchy
	Kuwait	State of Kuwait	Dawlat al-Kuwayt	Parliamentary system, Constitutional monarchy
	Oman	Sultanate of Oman	Salṭanat ʻUmān	Absolute monarchy
	Qatar	State of Qatar	Dawlat Qaṭar	Constitutional monarchy
	Saudi Arabia	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia	Al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya	Absolute monarchy
	United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	Al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah	Federal monarchya
a Elective by monarchs de jure, hereditary de facto.

Macro-economic trend[edit]

2014 Saudi–Qatari Rift[edit]

Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood across the MENA area have led to increasing tensions with other Arab States of the Persian Gulf. These came to a head during a March 2014 meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, after which the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain announced the recall of their ambassadors to Qatar.^[28][29][30]

Some financial economists have interpreted the 2014 Saudi–Qatari rift as the tangible political sign of a growing economic rivalry between oil and natural gas producers, which could "have deep and long-lasting consequences" beyond the MENA area.^[31]

Related states[edit]

Since the creation of the council in 1981 its membership has not expanded, with all members being Arab monarchies.^[32]

Some GCC countries have land borders with Iraq, Jordan and Yemen, and sea borders with Egypt, Somalia, Iran, Pakistan and India.

Iraq[edit]

Iraq is the only Arab country bordering the Persian Gulf that is not a member of the council. The associate membership of Iraq was discontinued in 1990 after its invasion of Kuwait in the Gulf War.^[33][34] In 2009, it was reported that Iraq was set to join the cartel of the GCC Chambers of Commerce.^[35]

In 2012, Iraqi Defence Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi stated that Iraq wants to join the GCC.^[36] Kuwait supports Iraq joining the GCC.^[37]

Iran[edit]

At the December 2012 Manama summit, the GCC states called for an end to Iranian interference in their internal affairs.^[38]

Jordan and Morocco[edit]

In May 2011, Jordan's request to join the GCC, which had been first submitted 15 years earlier, was accepted and Morocco was invited to join the union.^[39][40][41] In September 2011 a five year economic plan for both countries was put forward after a meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries and those of the GCC States, the first GCC meeting since May which included the Jordanian and Moroccan ministers. Although a plan for accession was being looked into, it was noted that there was no timetable for either's accession, and that discussions would continue.^[32]

As Jordan and Morocco are the only two Arab monarchies not currently in the council, the current members see them as strong potential allies. Jordan borders member Saudi Arabia and is economically connected to the Persian Gulf States. Although Morocco is not near the Persian Gulf, the Moroccan foreign minister Taieb Fassi Fihri notes that "geographical distance is no obstacle to a strong relationship".^[32]

Yemen[edit]

Yemen is (currently^[update]) in negotiations for GCC membership, and hopes to join by 2015. Although it has no coastline on the Persian Gulf, Yemen lies in the Arabian Peninsula and shares a common culture and history with other members of the GCC.^[8] The GCC has already approved Yemen's accession to the GCC Standardization Authority, Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC),^[42] GCC Auditing and Accounting Authority, Gulf Radio and TV Authority, GCC Council of Health Ministers, GCC Education and Training Bureau, GCC Council of Labour and Social Affairs Ministers, and Gulf Cup Football Tournament. The Council issued directives that all the necessary legal measures be taken so that Yemen would have the same rights and obligations of GCC member states in those institutions.^[43]

Related organizations[edit]

The GCC members and Yemen are also members of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA). However, this is unlikely to affect the agenda of the GCC significantly as it has a more aggressive timetable than GAFTA and is seeking greater integration.

See also[edit]

	Middle East portal
	Politics portal

• Arab Cooperation Council
• Peninsula Shield
• Arab states of the Persian Gulf
• Iran–Arab relations
• U.S.–Middle East Free Trade Area (US-MEFTA)
• Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (EU-MEFTA)
• Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU)
• Khaleeji, the Council's proposed currency
• Gulf Railway
• Middle East economic integration

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf - Secretariat General
• The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC)

v t e Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Member states Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Organizations Peninsula Shield Force Gulf Cup of Nations GCC Patent Office

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