Dubai: The Gulf-European economic relations have significantly progressed in recent years, particularly with the adoption of the Joint Action Programme (2022-2027) and the convening of the GCC-EU Summit in Brussels, followed by ministerial meetings, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, has said.

According to Qatar News Agency, Albudaiwi highlighted that the economic transformation within the GCC opens vast opportunities for partnership with the EU, particularly in clean energy, green hydrogen, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, smart infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

During his participation in a panel discussion on Gulf-European economic relations in Dubai, UAE, Albudaiwi emphasized that the relationship between the two sides is shifting from traditional trade exchange toward building integrated, long-term joint value chains.

These relations are deeply rooted, based on a long history of institutional cooperation that began with the 1988 Cooperation Agreement, which established a solid framework for political and economic dialogue and broadened horizons for collaboration in trade, investment, energy, development, and education, Albudaiwi underlined.

Albudaiwi noted that the volume of commodity trade between the GCC and the EU has reached approximately USD197 billion, making the EU one of the GCC's most important trading partners.

He affirmed that the success of the GCC-EU partnership is measured not only by trade volume or investment flows but by its ability to evolve into an integrated model of cooperation based on trust, shared risk, and a collective economic future that contributes to global stability and growth.