First ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting, Manama, Bahrain, 30 June 2009

The First ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Ministerial Meeting was held on 29-30 June 2009 in Manama, Bahrain. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the ASEAN Chair, and H.E. Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Ak-Khalifa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain. Attendances were the Ministers, high-level representatives of ASEAN and the GCC Member States and the Secretaries-General of ASEAN and GCC.

This First ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting provides for the two organisations to develop closer and beneficial relations. Significant outcomes of the Meeting include a trade agreement between the two regions, to foster people-to-people ties, and to strengthen cooperation in tourism and food security.

The Ministers further agreed that the ASEAN Ambassadors in Riyadh or in neighbouring countries in the Gulf shall be accredited to the GCC Headquarters in Riyadh, while the GCC Ambassadors in Jakarta or in neighbouring ASEAN Member States shall be accredited to ASEAN.

ASEAN and the GCC also adopted the ASEAN-GCC Joint Vision which aspires to build a new ASEAN-GCC partnership and the Joint Press Statement which captures the essence of the discussion of the Ministers. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ASEAN Secretariat and the GCC Secretariat General was also signed.

The next ASEAN-GCC Ministerial Meeting will be convened in 2010 in an ASEAN country.

ASEAN comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, PDR Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand (Present ASEAN Chair) and Vietnam.

GCC group consists of United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.

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