GCC leaders began their 30th summit here yesterday with a landmark launching of an electricity grid linking member states. The project assumes great economic significance as it will resolve many emergency or scheduled power cuts, thereby allowing the smooth flow of other projects depending on energy. The Sultanate’s delegation at the summit was headed, on behalf of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, by His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers.The electricity linkage project is a pioneering venture in the march of the Gulf Co-operation Council, which is considered the most successful regional bloc in the area. Speaking at the opening session, Shaikh Sabah al Ahmed al Jabir al Sabah, Emir of Kuwait, expressed his appreciation for His Majesty Sultan Qaboos for his ardent efforts in pursuing the decisions of the 29th GCC summit.
The 30th GCC summit, said Al Sabah, adds to the GCC edifice which occupies a prominent place among regional and international blocs. The GCC, he said, is based on solid grounds of co-operation and consultation and it tackles all matters in a practical way to help reach the objectives of prosperity for the peoples of the Arab Gulf region.
Al Sabah hailed the launching of the GCC Electricity Grid yesterday and expressed the member states’ keenness to specify a timeframe for the Monetary Union, the GCC Railway Project and many other schemes that come within the context of their joint interests. The agenda, he said, includes many political, economic, social and cultural issues that will be studied with great concern.
In his opening address, Al Sabah denounced the infiltrations targeting Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and security. In the meantime, he hoped security and stability will prevail over Yemen under the leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Al Sabah expressed anxiety over terrorist attacks targeting the brotherly people of Iraq and hoped that the process of parliamentary democracy will find its way to political life in that country.
About the situation in the Palestinian territories, Al Sabah hoped the Palestinian people would put aside their differences and think about the future of the independent state they aspire for. He also called upon the international community to exercise pressure on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories and to halt its aggression against the Palestinians.
In his speech, Al Sabah called for a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue in accordance with the principles of international charters. Al Sabah stressed the need for GCC states to intensify efforts to support their joint march and to tackle all the challenges. HH Sayyid Fahd attended a dinner hosted by the Emir of Kuwait for GCC leaders at Bayan Palace. The GCC leaders toured an exhibition of pictures held at the palace, spanning 80 years of the country’s history.
