All Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) firms, allowed to operate in Saudi Arabia, will have to meet Nitaqat quotas, according to Hattab Al-Enezi, Ministry of Labor spokesman. The announcement comes in the wake of the decision of the Council of Ministers announced earlier this week that it has given permission for GCC citizens to own and operate businesses in the Kingdom. This is an endorsement of a decision taken by a GCC summit held in Abu Dhabi in 2010. The Ministry spokesman, who is also its Director of Public Relations, was reported as saying in Al-Watan newspaper that all companies, whether owned by Saudis or other nationals, have to meet all of the Kingdom's labor regulations.