25-05-2025
Look: When GCC was born in Abu Dhabi 44 years ago after two-day summit
On May 25, 1981, forty-four years ago, the heads of state of six Gulf contries formally launched the Gulf Cooperation Council at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Abu Dhabi. It was a two-day summit aimed at turning the regional cooperation body into a nucleus for broader unity of all Arab nations.
The six leaders who attended the summit were King Khaled Ibn Abdelaziz of Saudi Arabia, Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman, Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah of Kuwait, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa of Bahrain, Sheikh Khalfia bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar and President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the UAE.
Chedli Klibi, then secretary general of the Arab League, and Habib Chatti, then secretary general of the Islamic Conference Organisation, also attended and addressed the meeting.
As reported by Khaleej Times, Sheikh Zayed described the event as a historic and momentous occasion. The UAE founding father saw in the formation of GCC 'the fulfilment of long-cherished hope of the peoples of the region for security, stability and progress.'
He told the plenary session of the summit that the GCC would help unify the Arab world and promote solidarity.
The charter of the GCC was first agreed upon in Riyadh in February 1981. It was finalised in Muscat in March of the same year. The heads of the six Gulf states signed it with a vision that the six countries would coordinate their policies in financial affairs, trade, communications, education, culture, health, social affairs, information and tourism, and in administrative and legislative affairs.
The leaders agreed to mobilise their resources and human and material infrastructure to push the GCC towards success. The GCC charter also stipulates that the six states would jointly step up cooperation in the fields of scientific and technological advancement, industry, mining and agriculture.
The GCC is headed by a Supreme Council of the six heads of state. The ministerial council and secretariat are led by the secretary-general. Kuwait's former UN ambassador Abdullah Yacoub Bishara was nominated as the first secretary-general.
Leaders of the Arab World welcomed the formation of the GCC. Klibi lauded the role played by Sheikh Zayed in the formation of the council and in supporting the cause of the Arab world. He also underscored the continuing call for united efforts on the economic, political, technological and military fronts.
