The State of Qatar participated in the work of the preparatory meetings of the committees of undersecretaries of the ministries of commerce and industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council states, which were held today, Thursday, 23 April 2026, via video conferencing technology.

The State of Qatar was represented in the meetings by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed bin Hassan Al-Malki, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The meetings witnessed the participation of Their Excellencies the undersecretaries of the ministries of commerce and industry in the GCC states, His Excellency the Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Development Affairs at the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting.

Their Excellencies the undersecretaries of the ministries of commerce in the GCC states discussed many topics listed on the agenda of the 63rd preparatory meeting, most notably developments in the negotiations of free trade agreements with countries and international groupings, and developments in commercial laws in the GCC states, including the regulation of competition and electronic and digital trade, in addition to the discussion of the Gulf virtual business incubator, and the memorandum of the General Secretariat regarding the work of the committees under the Commercial Cooperation Committee, which include the committee of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship, the committee of internal trade, the committee of consumer protection, and the committee of foreign trade, in addition to topics related to the Patent Office at the General Secretariat, and taking the appropriate decisions and recommendations in this regard.

In the same context, Their Excellencies the undersecretaries of the ministries of industry in the GCC states discussed many topics listed on the draft agenda of the 48th preparatory meeting, most notably the continuation of the discussion of the definition of the GCC national product, including the Omani–Kuwaiti proposal to address the localization criterion according to industrial sectors, and the draft executive regulation for exemptions of the GCC national product and the penalties and procedures related to the application of its standards, in addition to the lists of goods subject to collective protection.

The discussions also addressed reviewing the needs and requirements in light of the launch of the Gulf industrial platform, and the proposal to extend the decision to raise customs duties on reinforcing steel and iron coils, in addition to reviewing the work of the Technical Secretariat for combating harmful practices in international trade, and enhancing the mechanism of cooperation between the Industrial Cooperation Committee and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in addition to reviewing the results of the study of preparing five joint GCC industrial investment opportunities in priority industrial activities and promoting them, and the study of identifying critical core products from products and raw materials in the GCC industrial sector, and taking the necessary decisions and recommendations in this regard.

On the sidelines of the meetings, His Excellency the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry participated in the second meeting of the Permanent Committee for Patent Affairs, which was held via video conferencing technology, with the participation of Their Excellencies the undersecretaries, members of the Permanent Committee for Patent Affairs in the GCC states, and the Director General of the Patent Office at the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where a number of topics were reviewed, most notably the business model of the Patent Office, the strategy of joint GCC work in the field of patents, and the initiative to establish the GCC patent platform and its estimated cost, in addition to the exchange of expertise in the field of intellectual property.

His Excellency also participated in the first regular meeting of 2026 of the Executive Office of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting, which was held via video conferencing technology, where during this meeting the topics listed on the agenda were reviewed and the necessary recommendations were taken in this regard.