Bahrain Minister says GCC seeks to create integrated industrial system

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed Alzayani

Bahrain’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed Alzayani said that the Gulf countries are seeking to form an integrated industrial system that aims to develop a unified strategy for making supplementary industries. 

In a statement to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the minister said that GCC countries will work to rely on each other in industries, instead of importing raw materials or semi-manufactured materials from abroad, noting that this trend will have significant positive impacts from creating jobs, diversifying the base of the economy and expanding the exports value.

GCC countries are heading for a customs and economic union by 2025, as an integrated industry system and a unified strategy will help Gulf countries talk to global blocs as a trade bloc, Alzayani added.

The bilateral trade of the GCC countries can be boosted and strengthened by standardizing specifications as much as possible, so that factories produce one product that can sell across GCC countries, resulting in increased flow of goods among those countries, he noted.