Finance Ministers of member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held here today the 84th meeting of Financial and Economic Cooperation Committee under Kuwait's chairmanship at the GCC headquarters in Riyadh. The delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the meeting was led by Dr.Ibrahim Al-Assaf, the Minister of Finance. In an inaugural address, Mustafa Jassim Al Shamali, the Kuwaiti Minister of Finance called on GCC Finance Ministers to benefit from the decision taken by the leaders of GCC countries at their 30th session on the extension of the transitional period of the Customs Union, expressing confidence in the ability of GCC finance ministers to reach an agreement on withstanding issues in the GCC Customs Union. "The issue of Custom Revenue and distribution is not a thorny issue to be resolved as long as there is a will and sincere intention to reach a compromise formula acceptable to all Member States", he said, stressing that any formula or mechanism to be agreed upon between the Member States, it has to be reviewed after two years of the agreed upon mechanism, he said He described the solutions in the formula prepared by the GCC General Secretariat on completion of the Customs Union requirements as good and commendable, especially as it emphasized that the Custom Revenue of the GCC represents a minor portion of the total revenues of Member States and it is easy to agree on the distribution mechanism of any sort. The GCC is made up of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
