KUWAIT, Feb 19 (KUNA) -- Acting Director General of the Public Authority for Industry Shamlan Al-Juhaidly affirmed on Wednesday the necessity of cooperating and joining efforts to create active mechanisms to enhance industry in the GCC countries and facilitate the flow of goods and trade exchange between them.
This came in his speech in the opening of the sixth extraordinary meeting of the undersecretaries of the ministries of industry of the GCC hosted by Kuwait.
The meeting aims to review and discuss documents on mechanisms for applying the national GCC product definition standards, as it is a basic pillar for supporting industrial integration among the GCC countries, he said.
It constitutes a cornerstone for supporting GCC national industries and enhancing their competitiveness, and it also represents one of the biggest challenges facing the completion of the GCC Customs Union and is considered one of the most prominent obstacles facing intra-regional trade between the GCC countries, he pointed out.
He expressed his appreciation to the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting for the great efforts made in the last period and for the diligent work and constructive initiatives that had a clear impact in paving the way to overcome challenges.
On his part, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs Khaled Al-Sunaidi praised the prominent role played by Kuwait during its presidency of the current session in advancing the process of joint GCC action and enhancing economic and industrial cooperation among member states.
He also expressed his appreciation to Qatar for chairing the previous session and to the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council for preparing the agenda for this meeting.
Al-Sunaidi added that the agenda of the current meeting comes as a continuation of previous efforts to follow up on the decisions of the Industrial Cooperation Committee, noting that discussing the document on the mechanism for implementing national GCC product definition standards is an essential step towards supporting GCC industries and enhancing their competitiveness.
He expressed his aspirations that the meeting would reach results that enhance the process of joint GCC action and achieve the desired goals. (end) aam.aab.bb