A woman uses her mobile phone to take a picture during the Gulf youth conference in Riyadh, Saturday. — AP By Maher Abbas Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) must work “hard” toward economic and political union to ensure the safety and prosperity of its people, said Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Institute of Diplomatic Studies. Prince Saud made the comments in a speech here Saturday delivered on his behalf by Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the opening day of “The Conference of Gulf Youth: Arab Gulf States — From Cooperation to Union” organized by the Institute of Diplomatic Studies. The minister said that the region is facing many economic, political and social challenges. These include the “escalation of confrontation between Iran and the international community over its nuclear program, its constant provocation of GCC countries in particular, the continued suffering of the Palestinian people” and the Arab Spring. “All these developments require us to pause for reflection and [develop a] strong will to deal with them in the interest of GCC states … territorial integrity, civil peace, stability and growth.” “These threats require hard work from the GCC countries to shift from the current formula of cooperation to a union formula acceptable to the six countries to ensure their security and stability, and the durability of their economies.” Prince Saud said the Arab Gulf region is important “due to its strategic location and large reserves of oil and gas, which are the most important sources of energy in the world”. He said it was not possible to deal with these challenges as individual states. Prince Saud said it was King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who first “recognized the importance of the transition” from cooperation to a union in his opening address to the 32nd GCC summit in Riyadh in December last year. He said the proposal was subsequently formally adopted by the summit and a program of action was formulated, with the results forwarded to the next consultative summit. Prince Saud said a union would see the formation of a GCC supreme body to coordinate foreign policy decisions to benefit all member nations. “When the six GCC states collectively negotiate with other states in a federal structure, this will strengthen the bargaining power of our countries.” He said defense integration was crucial to “guarantee the security of the GCC states as an alternative to a defense policy based on temporary alliances”. On the economic front, union will result in a powerful economic bloc with a Gross Domestic Product, according to 2011 figures, of more than $1.4 trillion and a single market of 42 million people. Prince Saud said young people have an important role to play because more than 65 percent are under the age of 30 in the GCC. __
