Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 17, 2007
By Ahmad Al-Khaled, Staff writer

KUWAIT: "Negotiations are at the last stage for a free trade agreement between the GCC countries and the EU," said Ambassador Abulaziz Al-Sharikh reading a speech by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Sabah Al-Sabah. According to German Ambassador to Kuwait, Klaus Achenbach, "The trade between the GCC and EU amounts to $80 billion per year." He said of the pending trade agreement, "We wish to finish it before the GCC foreign ministers meeting on May 18." Ambassador Bernard Savage, Head of the delegation of the European Commission in Riyadh said: "The free trade talks have been going on since 1989. We have been talking about its potential for too long and it is time to render that potential."

Achenbach and Al-Sharikh, reading Sheikh Mohamed's speech, were speaking Monday at the start of a two-day conference on strengthening the European Union-Gulf Cooperative Council relations at the College of Social Sciences at Kuwait University.

The conference, which was organized in cooperation with EU embassies in Kuwait and under the patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohamed Sabah Al-Sabah, will present speakers from local academia as well as foreign universities and institutes, along with current and former members of local and foreign governmental institutions and members of the regional media. The subject matter will range from external and internal EU challenges to GCC challenges of integration or loose cooperation.

Speaking of the EU 50 year anniversary and the GCC 25 year anniversary, Ambassador Achenbach said, "In this 50 years, what started as a European economic community became the European Union."

The EU is a 27-member body, which was established to unify Europe after the end of the Second World War. Ambassador Savage said, "The EU is a work in progress." The GCC, which is made up of six member states, was established during the Iraq-Iran War. Sheikh Mohamed's speech took note of the EU's long history saying, "We in Kuwait and the GCC countries look with admiration to the unity and cooperation that the EU has accomplished."

The final sessions will involve EU-GCC relations in politics, security, economics, and education. Sheikh Mohamed's speech said, "The common values of the EU are economic cooperation, democracy, human rights and the rule of law." Ambassador Achenbach said, "We wish to strengthen our relations with the Arabian Gulf."

Sheikh Mohamed's speech further said, "Let me reiterate this: We have a deep belief in the importance to develop and evolve the relationship between us and our friends in the EU." Dr. Yacoub Al-Kandari, Dean of the College of Social Sciences in Kuwait University said of the EU-GCC partnership, "Europe is a partner in economics, culture, strategy, politics and military." Ambassador Bernard Savage of the EU Commission noted, "Our common interests are much wider than trade."

Dr. Al-Kandari summerized the conference by saying, "We meet today to build another bridge of cooperation on all aspects and levels." The conference, which is open to the public, will begin today at 9:15 am at the Sheikh Abdullah Al-Jaber Theatre at their Shuwaikh campus.