Oman’s stand on Gulf Union ‘will not hurt key projects’

Oman’s reluctance to join the proposed GCC Union will not affect the joint economic projects between the six Gulf states, says a Gulf official. His remarks follows a recent statement by the Omani Foreign Minister.
The official said the details of a project to create a GCC Clearing Organization (financial organization for a unified financial clearing of GCC member countries) will be discussed soon by the committee of the financial and banking sector of the Federation of Gulf Chambers of Commerce.
Abdullah Al-Shibli, GCC assistant secretary general for economic affairs at the General Secretariat of GCC, said a meeting will be held between the secretariat, represented by the economic affairs department and the financial sector of the Federation of Gulf Chambers to discuss the final details of the project to create a GCC Clearing Organization. The discussions will address the nature of systems in GCC financial markets, but the full details will be announced in a later stage.
Al-Shibli said new projects will be launched during the summit meeting of GCC leaders in Kuwait City.
The GCC Clearing Organization will contribute to the enhancement of the GCC markets once it starts to operate, where any Gulf investor can open a single account to smooth the movement of money and contract the differences in currencies.
“Even if Oman declined to join the proposed union, that does not mean the country will exit other joint economic projects,” he said.