The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry has concluded exercises involving live ammunitions as part of security preparations and arrangements for the coming Gulf summit due in Kuwait on Dec 14 and 15 . Security forces, the Amiri Guard and Air Force participated in the exercises, the ministry said in a release yesterday. The participating forces were trained in how to tackle potential security emergencies, it said, adding that other exercises would be carried out at some areas where the guests would be around a
nd the main roads leading to them.

Kuwaiti security forces are now well-prepared to ensure safety and security during the next GCC summit, it said. Meanwhile, a senior Kuwaiti official commended here yesterday the GCC's economic accomplishments, mainly the announced common Gulf market, customs union and Gulf economic citizenship.

Speaking on the occasion of the next Gulf summit, Abdullah Al-Owaisi, chief of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Commerce and Industry's Gulf and Arab Section, listed other GCC achievements such as a planned Gulf monetary union, single currency and power grid project.

The GCC is also seeking to notch up more economic accomplishments in order to eventually reach aspired economic integration, thus fulfilling the expectations and hopes of the Gulf people, he said.

Through the customs union deal, the GCC will seek to wipe out inter-Gulf customs obstacles and barriers and to have concerted import and export policies, Al-Owaisi pointed out.

The deal has also created a collective negotiating force seeking free trade with the European Union (EU) and other world blocs, he said. He also hailed the planned application of the five percent customs tariff to all imported commodities as an impressive step towards removed trade exchange obstacles and uniform import and trade procedures.

On the common Gulf market agreement, the Kuwaiti official said it had ensured equal treatment for all Gulf citizens in terms of economic activities, capital movement and investment.

The summit comes amidst critical circumstances and challenges at the regional and international levels, said former Information Minister Dr Saad bin Tifla yesterday. He said that the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) needed a common reference for resolving internal differences, suggesting the establishment of a GCC court of justice.

He also called for the establishment of a GCC parliament, and bringing GCC nationals closer together through allowing them to move from one country to the other using their ID cards, as well as other important matters such as raising inter-GCC trade and electricity linkage.

GCC summits seek the interests of the people, but implementation of resolutions is unfortunately slow, he said, noting the need for having an executive authority tasked with the implementation of decisions of the GCC leaders.

Bin Tifla said that the GCC required three things: a GCC court of justice that resolved differences between the member states; a Gulf parliament that acted as a consultative council; and greater reforms to the GCC Secretariat.

The GCC is facing many regional challenges - namely the situations in Iran, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict - as well as international issues such as the global economic crisis, he noted.

The former minister said that one way of tackling the economic crisis was through implementing a common Gulf currency, noting that the Gulf economies were influential in the global economy. He also called for greater economic coordination and activating the joint Gulf market in the interest of the six states and their people. ---Kuwaittimes