Attended by Oman, GCC-EU Summit explores ways to establish new strategic relations

Brussels: The Sultanate of Oman will take part in the first joint summit between GCC states and the European Union (GCC-EU Summit), scheduled to be on Wednesday, in Brussels, the Kingdom of Belgium.

Oman’s delegation to the GCC-EU Summit will be led, on behalf of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, by HH Sayyid Asa’ad bin Tarik Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs and Personal Representative of His Majesty the Sultan.

The summit will discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the two sides amid major common global challenges and the need to consolidate economic cooperation.

The summit will deal with cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, energy, sustainability and climate. The two sides will also consider ways to strengthen ties between peoples, in addition to facilitating visas and addressing multiple geopolitical challenges, notably those related to the Middle East region and the war in Ukraine.

GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Al Budaiwi said that the GCC-EU Summit constitutes the culmination of a strategic and historical partnership that began more than three decades ago. He added that the two sides share common grounds vis-à-vis regional and global issues and topics.

Ru’aa Issa Al Zadjali, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the Kingdom of Belgium and Head of Mission to the European Union, said that the GCC-EU Summit represents an important milestone along the path to strategic partnership. “The summit reflects the two sides’ commitment to upgrade bilateral relations amid growing regional and international challenges,” she explained.

Luigi Di Maio, EU Special Representative for the Gulf region, expressed his thanks and gratitude to the Sultanate of Oman for earlier hosting of the meetings of the GCC-EU Ministerial Council in 2023. “Last year’s GCC-EU meeting paved the way for this historic summit. This is the first time that the leaders of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states meet the leaders of the European Union countries on one platform,” Luigi Di Maio observed.

Economic, trade and investment relations between the GCC and the EU are undergoing steady growth. The volume of commercial exchange stood at about $204.3 billion in 2022, comprising 13.2% of the total volume of trade in goods entering the Gulf region, according to data issued by the GCC Statistical Centre.