His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Hassan Al-Malki, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, participated in the Preparatory Meeting of Undersecretaries of the Ministries of Commerce and Industry of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, held in Kuwait on Wednesday, 15 October 2025.
The meeting was attended by the undersecretaries of ministries of commerce and industry of the GCC states; H.E. the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs at the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC).
The participants discussed the items on the agenda of the sixty-first preparatory meeting, most notably the latest developments in negotiations on free trade agreements with countries and international blocs, the enhancement of inter-GCC investments, updates to commercial laws in member states, and the objectives and functions of the GCC Committee for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship. They also addressed matters related to the GCC Patent Office, and discussed several proposals and initiatives to develop the commerce sector in the GCC States. The meeting further reviewed preparations for the GCC’s participation in international events scheduled for 2025 and adopted decisions and recommendations in this regard.
Participants also discussed the draft agenda of the forty-seventh preparatory meeting, most notably the inclusion of an industrial localisation criterion within the standards defining the GCC national product, the report on goods exempted from the unified customs tariff, and the draft plan for the list of industrial investment opportunities available in member states. The meeting also approved a GCC initiative to stimulate industrial investments, promote the transition towards a circular economy, and encourage small and medium-sized industrial enterprises to innovate and enhance their competitiveness. Furthermore, the Undersecretaries discussed the launch of the Gulf Industrial Platform (GIP) — a unified digital system designed to strengthen industrial cooperation among GCC States — as well as cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in the fields of innovation and industrial sustainability. The meeting also reviewed the preparation of the GCC Strategy for Arab Industrial Integration, and several other initiatives and proposals aimed to develop the industrial sector in the GCC States, adopting necessary decisions and recommendations.
Alongside, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry also took part in the second regular session of 2025 of the Executive Office of the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), during which the draft agenda was reviewed and recommendations were adopted.
