Interview with the new GCC Secretary-General

Interview with the new GCC Secretary-General

As GCC Secretary-General and the first Bahraini and first military man to take office, HE Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani hopes to usher political and social reform.

April 3, 2011 1:11 by Precious de Leon

HE Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani is the first Bahraini and first military man to assume the office of Secretary-General for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which was established in 1981. Officially taking the role on April 1, he assumes office at a tumultuous time in the Middle East.

He sat down with the Gulf Research Center to talk about his views on the future of the Council and his priorities for the office, in an interview first published in Alriyadh newspaper.

This is a part of the translated transcript of the interview.

Q. There are many international, domestic and local challenges that face the GCC at the moment. What are your priorities with respect to these issues?

A. My priorities are those set by the leaders of the GCC states via their decrees in the Gulf Summits; the Cabinet’s decrees; the agreements signed in the context of the GCC; and the GCC Charter.
Perhaps I can summarise these priorities in five objectives:

• The first objective is to strengthen the joint, comprehensive defense and security of the member states of the GCC. (i.e. the security of member states individually and collectively, as well as the security of individual Gulf citizens)

• The second objective centers on the Gulf economy. The aim is to provide for a growing and cohesive economy in the framework of economic, technological and informational integration.

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