His Excellency Mr. Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), met with His Excellency Mr. Neil Crompton, Ambassador of the United Kingdom (UK) to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday (February 8, 2023) at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh.
At the outset of the meeting, HE Mr. Crompton congratulated HE Mr. Albudaiwi on the occasion of assuming his duties as Secretary General of the GCC, underlining the keenness of the UK to cement partnership with the GCC countries in all fields.
During the meeting, the officials addressed the latest issues at the regional and international levels, and HE the Secretary General underscored the importance that the GCC attaches to the strategic partnership with the UK, which was announced at the joint summit held in the Kingdom of Bahrain in December 2016, and is activated through the implementation of joint action plans and the summit’s decisions, including political dialogue, cooperation in the fields of security and defence, as well as in the economic and cultural sectors, in addition to following up on the progress of the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement between the Council and the UK, which were launched in light of the joint statement signed on June 22, 2022.
Furthermore, HE the Secretary General pointed out that he was looking forward to the success of the third round of negotiations, which will be hosted by Riyadh in mid-March 2023.
The meeting was also attended by HE Dr Abdulaziz Hamad Aluwaisheg, Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs and Negotiations at the General Secretariat of the GCC.