MOSCOW, 10 July. /TASS/. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) hope that economic cooperation with Russia will contribute to building a better future, Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi said on Monday. He was speaking during the 6th round of the strategic dialogue between Russia and the GCC.
"We understand that Russia has vital interests in this region, [which] include, among other things, the development of logistics routes, the expansion of trade and economic interaction through us and with us in order to get to Africa and Asia through our region. We welcome the work and partnership with the Russian Federation in this direction and hope that this will lead to a better prosperous future, greater stability and security," the minister said.
The GCC is a regional organization composed of six countries: Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1981. Its main goals are political coordination and economic integration between the participating states, as well as interaction to ensure regional security and defense in the Persian Gulf.
The Russia-GCC Strategic Dialogue was initiated in 2016. Its first meeting was held in 2017 in the capital of Saudi Arabia.