Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), also known as the Gulf Cooperation Council, an organization founded in May 1981 to promote solidarity and economic, political, and social cooperation between the oil-producing states of the Arabian Peninsula. Members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The supreme council, comprising heads of state, meets annually to decide policy based on the recommendations of the ministerial council, which comprises the foreign ministers of the member states. The secretariat, based at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is responsible for budgeting and helping members implement recommendations. Implemented policies include the abolition of customs duties on domestically produced items in intra-GCC trade; the harmonization of banking regulations; the free movement of people and vehicles between member states; the coordination of trade, development, and major industrial projects; and the improvement of transport and telecommunications. Policies under discussion include plans to integrate the transport, telecommunications, and electricity supply networks of the six GCC members. Members launched a customs union in January 2003 and are working towards reaching agreement over monetary union by 2005. Their intention is to have a single currency by 2010.
Defence was not mentioned in the original agreement setting up the GCC, but there have been efforts to coordinate defence purchases. During the 1980s members decided to establish a joint rapid deployment force, and in 1987 the supreme council agreed that aggression against one member was aggression against all. Following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the rapid deployment force formed a part of the UN-authorized military coalition against Iraq. In March 1991, under the Treaty of Damascus, GCC member states agreed to set up a regional peacekeeping force with Syria and Egypt—the two other Arab states that had been most active in the coalition against Iraq. Subsequently the GCC set up an aid fund to promote development in Arab countries that had helped to liberate Kuwait. See also Gulf War.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® Encyclopedia 2003.