Al-Budaiwi: Pro-Peace Foreign Policy Elevated GCC Standing On Int'l Stage

11/29/2024 3:02:56 PM

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) KUWAIT, Nov 29 (KUNA) - The Gulf Cooperation Council Member States enjoy a special standing on the international stage thanks to a unified foreign policy promoting global peace and security, the council chief said Friday.
Speaking to reporters and media figures who will cover the upcoming 45th GCC Summit in Kuwait Sunday, GCC Secretary General Jassem Al-Budaiwi pointed out the international community views the GCC countries as a reliable and credible strategic partner "with no hidden agenda."
Al-Budaiwi congratulated His Highness the Amir of Kuwait sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on the occasion of the 45th Summit of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
He underlined that the upcoming summit would be held after a full year of a diligent work in the joint committees in order to achieve integration among member states.
Since the council inception, the Gulf leaders held 44 regular summits, 17 consultative summits, four extraordinary summits, and six summits with non-GCC countries, he said.
On GCC states' economic status, Al-Budaiwi stated that the GCC countries produce about 16 million barrels of crude oil per day and have the world's biggest crude oil and natural gas reserves.
He added that the financial value of the Gulf stock markets amounted to about USD 4 trillion by the end of 2023, noting that the economies of the GCC countries combined are ranked 12th globally.
In 2022, the Gulf economy grew seven times more than the global economy, and the per capita share of the gross domestic product in the GCC countries is three times higher than the average per capita share globally, he said.
He noted that the GCC countries have sovereign wealth funds with assets of about USD 4.4 trillion, or about 34 percent of the total assets of the 100 largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.
As for the GCC electricity interconnection project, Al-Budaiwi said that the project aims to address power shortage at rush times, reduce carbon emissions, and reduce the costs of establishing fiber optic networks.
He thanked Kuwait's Minister of Information and Culture, Minister of State for Youth Affairs Abdulrahman Al-Mutairi, the head of the Gulf Weeks' organization team Salwa Al-Qarni, and all Kuwaiti entities which contributed to the Gulf Weeks' activities. (end)
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