Gulf Cooperation Council

 

(GCC), officially Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, organization (est. 1981) promoting stability and economic cooperation among Persian Gulf nations. Its members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. In 1991 the GCC countries joined with Egypt and Syria to create a regional peacekeeping force. An aid fund was also established to promote development in Arab states; it was used to help liberate Kuwait in 1991. In 2003 GCC members eliminated tariffs on trade between member nations and established common external tariffs. They have agreed to establish a broader economic union (including a single market and currency) by 2010.

It has been suggested that Arab states of the Persian Gulf be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

It has been suggested that Persian Gulf States be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG)
Logo
Map indicating CCASG members
Official languages		Arabic
Type		Trade bloc
Membership		Arab Gulf states (6)
Leaders
-	Secretary-General	Abdul Rahman ibn Hamad al-Attiyah
Establishment
-	As the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)	May 25 1981
Population
-	estimate	35,869,438
Currency		see footnote 1
Website http://www.gcc-sg.org/
1	Common currency planned for introduction in 2010. Present currencies (ISO 4217 codes in brackets): Bahraini dinar (BHD) • Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) • Omani rial (OMR) • Qatari riyal (QAR) • Saudi riyal (SAR) • UAE dirham (AED)

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG; Arabic: مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج), also known as the The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; مجلس التعاون الخليجي) is a trade bloc involving the six Arab states of the Persian Gulf with many economic and social objectives.

History

Created on May 25, 1981, the Council comprises the 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 Riyadh. These countries are often referred to as Gulf Cooperative Countries.^[1]

Not all of the countries neighboring the Persian Gulf are members of the council. Iran is excluded, as is Iraq, although both nations have a coastline on the Persian Gulf. Yemen is (currently) in negotiations for GCC membership, and hopes to join by 2016.^[2]

Objectives

Among the stated objectives are:

• formulating similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration;
• fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources;
• establishing scientific research centres;
• setting up joint ventures;
• encouraging cooperation of the private sector;
• strengthening ties between their peoples; and
• establishing a common currency, the Khaleeji, by 2010. (However, Oman had announced it will not be able to meet the target date.)

Economy

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 Fund, retain over $900 billion in assets. Other regional funds also have several hundred billion dollars.

The region is also an emerging hotspot for events, including the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. Doha is also planning to submit its application for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

In 2006, its GDP (nominal) was $717.8 billion dollars (IMF April 2007), led by spectacular growth in United Arab Emirates and Qatar. ^[3]. Qatar is expected to overtake top ranked Luxembourg in GDP (nominal) per capita next year for the world's top spot. See List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita.

Secretaries-General

• Abdullah Bishara^[4], Kuwait, 26 May 1981 — April 1993
• Fahim bin Sultan al-Qasimi, United Arab Emirates, April 1993 — April 1996
• Jamil ibn Ibrahim al-Hujailan, Saudi Arabia, April 1996 — 31 March 2002
• Abdul Rahman ibn Hamad al-Attiyah, Qatar, 1 April 2002 to date

Comparison with other regional blocs

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Most active regional blocs
as of 2004

Regional bloc1	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states1
			in millions	per capita
Agadir	1,703,910	126,066,286	513,674	4,075	4
AU	29,797,500	897,548,804	1,515,000	1,896	53
ASEAN	4,400,000	553,900,000	2,172,000	4,044	10
CACM	422,614	37,816,598	159,536	4,219	5
CARICOM	462,344	14,565,083	64,219	4,409	(14+1)3
CCASG / GCC	2,285,844	35,869,438	536,223	14,949	6
CEFTA	298,148	28,929,682	222,041	7,675	(7+1)3
EU	4,325,675	496,198,605	12,025,415	24,235	27
EurAsEC	20,789,100	208,067,618	1,689,137	8,118	6
EFTA	529,600	12,233,467	471,547	38,546	4
GUAM	810,506	63,764,600	456,173	7,154	4
NAFTA	21,588,638	430,495,039	15,279,000	35,491	3
PARTA	528,151	7,810,905	23,074	2,954	(14+2)3
SAARC	5,136,740	1,467,255,669	4,074,031	2,777	8
Unasur / Unasul	17,339,153	370,158,470	2,868,430	7,749	12
UN and countries for reference2	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Units4
			in millions	per capita
UN	133,178,011	6,411,682,270	55,167,630	8,604	192
Brazil	8,514,877	188,078,261	1,594,482	9,108	27
Canada	9,984,670	32,507,874	1,165,000	35,200	13
India	3,287,590	1,102,600,000	4,042,000	3,700	35
Japan	377,873	128,085,000	4,220,000	33,100	47
PR China5	9,596,960	1,306,847,624	10,000,000	7,600	33
Russia	17,075,200	143,782,338	1,723,000	12,100	89
USA	9,631,418	300,000,000	12,980,000	43,500	50
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database. Legend      smallest value among the blocs compared     largest value among the blocs compared Footnotes 1 Including data only for full and most active members. 2 Including the largest five countries by area, population and GDP (PPP), but not #4 in population or #5 in GDP (PPP). 3 Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states. 4 Members or administrative divisions. 5 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or regions administered    by the Republic of China (Taiwan).

See also

• Arab Gulf states
• Iran-Arab relations
• Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (EU-MEFTA)
• Middle East Free Trade Area (US-MEFTA)
• List of trade blocs

References

External links

• The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf - Secretariat General
• The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf - Secretariat General - English
• Gulf Cooperation Council Accounting and Auditing Organization
• Kuwait pegs dinar to basket of currencies
• The Unified Economic Agreement between the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council
• GCC Trade Exchange
• Flag of The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
• A new fiscal framework for GCC countries ahead of monetary union, Chatham House, May 2006
• Border security in the Gulf States (extract) June 2006

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG)
Bahrain · Kuwait · Oman · Qatar · Saudi Arabia · United Arab Emirates

lij:GCC

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