DOHA: Chaired by the State of Qatar, the 26th Meeting of the Committee of the Ministers of Transport of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), kicked off on Thursday.
Minister of Transport HE Jassim bin Saif Al Sulaiti presided over the meeting, with the participation of Their Excellencies the GCC Ministers of Transport and in attendance of HE Secretary General of the GCC Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi.
In his opening speech, Al Sulaiti stressed the importance of cooperation and efforts by the ministers of transport to enhance the development process of the GCC countries and their societies. He said that recent years have seen a paradigm shift in the common action in all fields and many positive outcomes and successes considering a balanced approach for comprehensive development to enhance economic and social integration between GCC countries.
Headded that the transportation industry attracts great attention from the GCC country leaders, and this helped propel more progress and advancement, given the fact that many other GCC cooperation areas rely on that sector to achieve their development plans. One of those plans, he said, focuses on connecting GCC countries together with a network of highways, diversifying travel and passenger and cargo transportation options for citizens and beneficiaries of the GCC countries.
Thanks to GCC country leaders' considerable attention to the importance of investing in GCC shared projects, the Minister of Transport, said several transportation projects have been launched; on top of them is the GCC Railways Project to connect GCC countries together, given the positive direct impacts on streamlining GCC trade movement and contribution to connecting the logistic facilities and economic and industrial zones to the main ports, thereby enhancing their economic role and helping support the trade exchange with Asia and Europe, let alone providing safe services of passenger and cargo transportation. HE said that the common action on that project is advancing significantly, to see the light of the day in 2030.
Headded that these days we are seeing a major development of GCC ports in terms of capacity, handling, and accommodating all types of vessels and they now occupy high rankings in terms of efficiency on the World Banks ports performance indicators. He added that the directives of the GCC leaders have resulted in GCC countries having advanced and eco-friendly transportation infrastructure supported by the latest technology systems that help keep pace with emerging and smart technologies, and they also contribute to activating all the initiatives for reducing carbon emissions to achieve carbon neutrality. The GCC countries' record of achievements in this regard is internationally recognized.
Their Excellencies the GCC Ministers of Transport discussed several topics to further enhance GCC countries' cooperation in transportation. They also took the necessary decisions on the latest updates on the GCC Railways Authority and Railways Project such as the General Agreement for Connecting the States of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to the Railway Project, the executive regulations of the GCC uniform system for universal land transportation, controls of conventional merchant vessels' access to the waters and harbors of the GCC States, and the uniform conditions and controls for granting driving licenses to the offshore units not subject to international maritime conventions, in addition to several other important topics.