The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, stressed the great importance of the strategic partnership between the GCC and the United States of America (U.S.) in enhancing maritime security in the region and securing freedom of maritime navigation and the smooth flow of international trade.
This statement came during his meeting with Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces today at the headquarters of the GCC General Secretariat in Riyadh.
During the meeting, they discussed several issues related to maritime security in the Arab Gulf region, strengthening the GCC-U.S. cooperation and working with international and regional partners.
The GCC Secretary-General stressed the importance of this joint work to maintain the security of waterways and maritime navigation in a way that guarantees freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade to the countries of this region and the world.
In addition, Albudaiwi emphasised that the matter of maritime security is a top priority within the framework of the strategic partnership with the U.S. He further added that this is evidenced by the formation of a specialised working group in 2015, whose members convene regularly to agree on necessary steps to enhance cooperation between the two sides in the field of maritime security.
The importance of this partnership has been underscored by the successive GCC-U.S. summits, including the summit held in July 2022 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the joint ministerial meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries and the U.S. in June 2023, which stressed the importance of supporting navigational rights and freedoms as well as collective efforts to address threats to the security of ships using the waterways in the region, the GCC Secretary-General highlighted.
Source: Saudi Press Agency