Ahmad Al-Sabah for his sincere efforts during Kuwait's presidency of the previous session, which had a major role in encouraging joint work between GCC members. The Qatari Emir expressed his gratitude to secretary general of the GCC as well all the staff in the secretariat for their efforts in bolstering the role of the council. The Emir then said that today's summit is held on the backdrop of very complicated and delicate international and regional circumstances, which puts further responsibility on the leaders to enhance joint work in line with the aspiration of the people of the GCC. Expressed his hope "that this summit will set the foundation for a new takeoff in Gulf relations through strengthening the spirit of fraternity and solidarity." The Emir then noted that the uncertainty characterizing the current global and economic context, in addition to the deep-rooted political and economic transformations the world is witnessing call on the GCC members to work towards economic and development integration. Then, he highlighted that initiative of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, which calls for Gulf Union and eventually an Arab Union, will remain a "lofty goal." However, the Qatari Emir maintained that believing in that goal would require gradual steps towards economic integration "as well as social and cultural relations among our peoples that would eventually lead to achieving our common goals and interests," he added. -- More 21:10 LOCAL TIME 18:10 GMT تغريد
