core sector communique

ASEAN, GCC, Discuss Further Cooperation, Consider a Foundation

New York, 22 September 2010

 

ASEAN and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are discussing the possibility of setting up an ASEAN-GCC foundation to function as a resource to implement partnership activities in the future. Ministers from the two regional groupings discussed this idea on Tuesday, when they met at the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), now taking place in New York.

 

The idea of the foundation emerged against the backdrop of increasing cooperation and collaboration between the two organisations. During a visit by an ASEAN Secretariat delegation to the GCC Secretariat-General in Riyadh in late August, both sides agreed to further cooperate between the various sectoral bodies under their respective regional bodies. The ASEAN-GCC foundation will be jointly facilitated by the ASEAN and GCC Secretariats.

 

The meeting also discussed details of the implementation of the ASEAN-GCC Two-Year Action Plan (2010-2012), which was adopted at the 2nd ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting held on 31 May-1 June in Singapore this year. During Tuesday’s meeting, the Ministers also exchanged views on issues of common interest and concern, including the Middle East peace process and developments in the respective regions.

 

The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary of State of Cambodia, H.E. Dr. KAO Kim Hourn, and, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait, H.E. Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. Cambodia is ASEAN’s current coordinator for ASEAN-GCC dialogue.

 

Since the 1st full-fledged ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting held in June 2009 in Bahrain, the relations between the two have been growing.

 

GCC, also known as the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, was established on 25 May 1981 to advance the political, social and economic objectives of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The Council has six Member States: United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the State of Kuwait.

 

To date, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar have accredited their respective Ambassadors to ASEAN. The nomination of Ambassadors of the State of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are being processed by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers.