Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, recently chaired a virtual meeting of the Industrial Co-operation Committee of the Gulf Co-operation Council. During the meeting, he reiterated the UAE's commitment towards the continued coordination, consultation and exchange of expertise and ideas to support the joint GCC economic initiatives for the greater good. The 47th session of the committee was aimed at furthering the objectives of the GCC Unified Economic Agreement.

During the session, Dr Sultan Al Jaber hailed the collective efforts that helped at sustaining business continuity across all sectors amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants further reviewed a set of priority issues aimed at empowering the industrial sector across the GCC, including joint efforts to tackle the Coronavirus pandemic and ways to optimise and leverage the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Addressing the meeting, Dr Sultan Al Jaber said that there are many global challenges in current times that require better coordination between the Gulf nations.

“By acting together, we can redefine our collective future in the post-COVID landscape, taking into consideration the priorities that best serve our interests, and achieving our goals for growth, progress and prosperity," he said,

The UAE minister further shed light on some key enablers of success such as industrial integration, adopting joint programmes and projects in strategic and vital industrial areas and tapping into the unique advantages, experiences and strengths as GCC countries. He highlighted that there are many measures that can be adopted by the leadership to boost trade between GCC countries.

"These include enhancing the benefits of the Unified Economic Agreement; fully adopting the imperatives of the common Gulf market and customs union; working to expand the GCC market; finding new opportunities for exports; and encouraging the private sector to establish profitable, value add projects. In addition, we should convene conferences to encourage dialogue on how to enhance the national industries of GCC countries," the Minister added.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber also highlighted the need for preparing against future crises by merging the supply chains such that there are enough inventories of vital materials like food and medicines. He also called for enhancing cooperation in research and development across these sectors. Dr Al Jaber also noted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution has lots of great opportunities to offer to boost growth and cooperation beyond the pandemic crisis.

“In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, GCC industrial sector is well-placed to benefit from 4IR thanks to innovative solutions in AI, robotics, biotechnology, the Internet of Things and more,” he said.