Doha: The State of Qatar chaired the 58th preparatory meeting of the undersecretaries of the ministries of commerce and the 44th meeting of the undersecretaries of the ministries of industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which were held in Doha today.
A statement by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated that the activities of the preparatory meetings were chaired by HE Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Mohammed bin Hassan Al Malki, in the presence of HE GCC Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs Khalid bin Ali Al Sunaidi and the undersecretaries of commerce and industry in the GCC countries.
Assistant Undersecretary for Industry Affairs and Business Development Saleh bin Majid Al Khulaifi and Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Ayed Al Qahtani participated in the meetings.
HE the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry welcomed Their Excellencies the Undersecretar
ies in the State of Qatar, noting that these meetings are a continuation of efforts to strengthen joint GCC action and achieve the common goals and ambitions of the GCC countries to advance the various GCC economic sectors, especially the trade and industry sectors, in a way that enhances their contribution to promoting economic development in the GCC countries.
His Excellency thanked the Sultanate of Oman for its efforts and endeavors made during its presidency of the meetings of the commercial and industrial cooperation committees during the past year, which resulted in many fruitful and constructive results and recommendations to support and enhance joint GCC action in the commercial and industrial sectors in the GCC countries.
Their Excellencies the Undersecretaries discussed a number of topics in the preparatory meeting of the commercial cooperation committee, including the formation of a committee specialized in investment issues, updates in the commercial laws of the GCC countries such as the consume
r protection law and the competition law, finding a unified mandatory legislative framework for e-commerce for the GCC countries, and preparing a unified GCC law for commercial franchising.
The work of the small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship committee, the internal trade committee and the foreign trade committee along with the latest developments in the free trade agreement negotiations with countries and international blocs were reviewed, in addition to reviewing the developments in dealing with intra-GCC trade and other relevant topics related to the commercial sector in the GCC countries.
The 44th preparatory meeting of the GCC industry undersecretaries committee discussed the latest developments related to finding a unified definition of the “GCC” national product and its standards, lists of goods subject to collective protection and the unified strategy for industrial development in the GCC countries.
The meeting reviewed a proposal to establish an electronic information platform concern
ed with GCC industrial projects and joint projects to be a database that facilitates investors’ access to information that serves the industrial sector as well as access to the experiences of member states in the field of future factories, combating harmful practices and protecting GCC industry from unfair competition.
Source: Qatar News Agency
