The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, affirmed the GCC leaders' commitment to its principles and objectives that aim at preserving its unity, strengthening its current and future role, harness its energies to serve the GCC people, and maintain the security and stability of its member States and the region in the face of all challenges.

Dr. Al-Zayani stressed the GCC inevitability joint response facing all challenges that threaten the security and stability of the region. He pointed out that history shows us that the nations that have been successful are the ones were able to build strong and stable alliances on solid foundations.

This came as part of a speech delivered by HE the Secretary General at the Saudi College of Command and Staff in Riyadh on Sunday, 6 January 2019.

The Secretary General said that the ultimate goal of establishing the Gulf Cooperation Council was to apply the joint response principle facing the challenges and promote social well-being through closer integration among countries of similar ideology, and historical, geographical, cultural and religious ties, as well as common interests. He added that the GCC has been able to reach integration through a number of joint projects and institutions in all fields.

Dr. Al-Zayani noted that interdependence has become the cornerstone of security, recovery and prosperity all over the world. He said that the GCC has passed the test for nearly 38 years, and will remain the best model for our region. He added that even if the challenges have changed in shape, they still exist; the Middle East peace process as an example; stressing that Yemen remains the GCC biggest challenge, where the Arab Coalition to Support legitimacy in Yemen continue to seek peace for its people and eliminate the Iranian influence that threatens its security and stability.

In his speech, the Secretary General referred to the efforts exerted by the Gulf Cooperation Council through a cooperative system strengthening this Alliance through a range of security, social, economic and recovery initiatives and projects.

Dr.  Al-Zayani also referred to major joint infrastructure projects, the most important of which is the integration of electrical Interconnection, which has achieved all its strategic objectives by enhancing the security of power supply and increasing the reliability and recovery of the GCC systems. It has already contributed 100% to spare the full or partial interruption and provided support and assistance in about 1,700 breakout incidents.

The Secretary General added that the GCC states have realized the need to expand, diversify and protect the economic base of all Member States through a number of initiatives, such as; the Gulf common market, the economic citizenship, and the GCC Customs Union. He added that the statistics show that the economic movements in the GCC states have increased by 37 times since the establishment of the Gulf common market in 2003. The number of joint stock companies has tripled and the number of banks with branches abroad has quadrupled; Capital also increased from 16 billion US dollars to $ 265 billion, and intra-GCC trade rose from $ 6 billion to $ 133 billion.

Dr.  Al-Zayani, noted the active role the GCC play in regional and international levels; providing advice to regional and international allies as well as the humanitarian aid they provide internationally. He said that the GCC allies and international partners want the GCC as a regional alliance to continue its vital role in enhancing the security and stability of the region; stressing that maintaining the Council's strength serves the interests of its members and the region in general.