|
مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية
Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||
|
Map indicating CCASG members
|
||||||
| Headquarters | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |||||
| Official languages | Arabic | |||||
| Type | Trade bloc | |||||
| Membership |
Six members
|
|||||
| Leaders | ||||||
| - | Secretary General | Dr. Abdullatif Bin Rashid Al-Zayani | ||||
| - | Supreme Council Presidency | United Arab Emirates | ||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | As the GCC | 25 May 1981 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 2,423,300 km2 935,641 sq mi |
||||
| - | Water (%) | negligible | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2008 estimate | 38,600,000[1] | ||||
| - | Density | 14.44/km2 37.4/sq mi |
||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2008 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1.037 trillion | ||||
| - | Per capita | $22,200 | ||||
| Currency | Khaleeji (proposed) 6 currencies
|
|||||
| Website http://www.gcc-sg.org |
||||||
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG; Arabic: مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC; مجلس التعاون الخليجي), is a political and economic union of the Arab states bordering the Persian Gulf and constituting the Arabian Peninsula, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. Jordan and Morocco have been invited to join the council.[2]
Contents |
Created on 25 May 1981, the original Council comprised the 630-million-acre (2,500,000 km2) Persian Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. 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.
Among the stated objectives are:
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 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, the leaders of the Council have come under fire for doing too little to combat the economic downturn. While GCC countries were among the first hit - and the first to respond to the crisis - their programs have been prone to disparities, and they have placed their region on the brink of even deeper crises. 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.[7]
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.
The GCC Patent Office was approved in 1992 and established soon after in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[8] 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.
A GCC common market was launched on 1 January 2008.[9] 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 US, in effect cutting through the GCC's agreement, and causing much friction.
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar on 15 December 2009 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 Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah said on 8 December 2009 that a single currency may take up to 10 years to establish. The original target was in 2010. Oman and the UAE later announced their withdrawal of the proposed currency until further notice.
Amidst the 2011 Bahraini protests, Gulf Cooperation Council forces from Saudi Arabia and the UAE were sent to Bahrain in March 2011.[10][11][12]
There are six member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (CCASG) or Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
| Flag |
Common name |
Official name (English) | Official name (Arabic) | Type of government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | Kingdom of Bahrain | Mamlakat al-Baḥrayn | Constitutional Monarchy | |
| Kuwait | State of Kuwait | Dawlat al-Kuwayt | Constitutional Monarchy | |
| Oman | Sultanate of Oman | Salṭanat ʻUmān | Absolute Monarchy | |
| Qatar | State of Qatar | Dawlat Qaṭar | Absolute Monarchy | |
| Saudi Arabia | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya | Absolute Monarchy | |
| United Arab Emirates | State of the United Arab Emirates | Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah | Federal Monarchy (elective de jure, hereditary de facto) |
| Year | GDP (in millions) | GDP per capita (as % of US) |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | $250,675 | 152.00 |
| 1985 | $183,069 | 60.19 |
| 1990 | $207,735 | 41.28 |
| 1995 | $261,072 | 37.10 |
| 2000 | $375,483 | 36.26 |
| 2005 | $664,582 | 45.19 |
| 2010 | $1,084,647 | 56.56 |
Since the creation of the council in 1981 its membership has not expanded, with all members being Arab monarchies.[14] Iran and Iraq, who also border the Persian Gulf, are not members. The associate membership of Iraq in certain GCC-related institutions was discontinued after the invasion of Kuwait.[15]
The GCC has land borders with Iraq, Jordan and Yemen.
The associate membership of Iraq in certain GCC-related institutions was discontinued after the invasion of Kuwait.[15] The GCC states have announced that they support the document of The International Compact with Iraq that was adopted at Sharm El-Sheikh on 4–5 May 2007. It calls for regional economic integration with the neighboring states. Currently, many observers think that there is a very low possibility of Iraqi accession to the GCC, but this could change in the future as Iraq develops the production of its oil resources.[16]
Yemen is (currently[update]) in negotiations for GCC membership, and hopes to join by 2016. Although it has no coastline on the Persian Gulf, Yemen is on the Arabian peninsula and shares a common culture and history with other members of the GCC.[17] The GCC has already approved Yemen's accession to the GCC Standardization Authority, Gulf Organization for Industrial Consultancy, 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.[18]
In May 2011 requests by Jordan and Morocco to join were welcomed by the members of the GCC, who supported both requests for membership.[19] 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.[14]
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 Gulf States. Although Morocco is not near the gulf, the Moroccan foreign minister Taeib Fassi Fihri notes that "geographical distance is no obstacle to a strong relationship".[14]
The GCC members and Yemen are also members of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA). However, this is unlikely to significantly affect the agenda of the GCC as it has a more aggressive timetable than GAFTA and is seeking greater integration.
|
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||