The Shura Council State of Qatar

The Parliamentary Coordination Committee and Foreign Relations of the Legislative Councils of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries held its 16th meeting in Doha on Sunday, in preparation for the 17th meeting of Their Excellencies Speakers of the Shura, Representatives, National and Ummah Councils in the GCC countries that will be held in Doha on Tuesday.

The meeting was presided by HE Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti, with the participation of members of the Shura Council HE Nasser bin Mohammed Al Naimi and HE Mubarak bin Mohammed Al Kuwari, as well as HE Secretary-General of the Shura Council Dr. Ahmed bin Nasser Al Fadala and members of the Parliamentary Coordination Committee.

The meeting discussed several topics on the agenda and the attendees approved the agenda of the 17th meeting of Their Excellencies Speakers of the Shura, Representatives, National and Ummah Councils in the GCC countries.

HE Deputy Speaker of the Shura Council Dr. Hamda bint Hassan Al Sulaiti said that the 16th meeting to prepare for the 17th meeting of Their Excellencies speakers of the GCC legislative councils includes a work program full of tasks and topics concerned with Gulf issues. She noted that the meeting includes four key issues to be reviewed related to the European-GCC Parliamentary Committee and the meeting of the female members of the GCC legislative councils with the European delegation.

Her Excellency added that the agenda also includes the meeting minutes of the 15th and 16th meetings of Their Excellencies speakers of the GCC legislative councils, the memorandums of the General Secretariat of the GCC regarding the European-GCC Parliamentary Committee, GCC shared issues, the agenda of the 17th meeting of Their Excellencies speakers of the GCC legislative councils, in addition to a proposal to hold coordination meetings in international regional parliamentary forums.

Three topics were discussed during the meeting regarding preserving the Gulf identity, the role of councils in developing artificial intelligence tools and ensuring the continuity of supply chains in the GCC countries, all in preparation for referring these topics to the meeting of Their Excellencies speakers of the GCC legislative councils, as one will be selected as the shared Gulf topic of 2024.

The meeting also reviewed the outcomes of the meeting of the female members of the GCC legislative councils and the Chair of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula.

The meeting also discussed strengthening cooperation relations between the GCC councils and the parliaments of Latin American countries and submitting recommendations regarding this to the meeting of the speakers of the legislative councils, in addition to reviewing a number of topics related to the joint Gulf action and parliamentary coordination between the GCC countries in international parliamentary forums.