Saudi-Emirati coordination council launches several initiatives

The Executive Committee of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council, the newly-formed body that reflects an era of even closer cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in various sectors, discussed and launched a number of initiatives at its first meeting held on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, the Centre for International Communication (CIC) said in a statement.

Held under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri and the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future Mohammad Al Gergawi, the first edition of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council manual was approved during the meeting.

This meeting comes in line with the ‘Strategy of Resolve’ adopted in the minutes of the first meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council, signed by the Saudi and UAE governments which stipulated creation of the Executive Committee, the CIC statement added.

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The Committee discussed a number of initiatives, the results of the action progress of each initiative and the desired results. It was agreed to sign the mutual recognition agreement for the approved economic operators' program to facilitate the flow of traffic at the customs outlets as soon as the required approvals from both sides are completed.

This coincides with the pilot launch of the fast track of the companies of the economic operators’ program.

In the field of entrepreneurship, a financial awareness initiative for Saudi and Emirati youth was launched to introduce and market the products of small traders between the two countries through the establishment of joint events.

In the field of supply security, a joint cooperation program was signed between Saudi Arabia and the UAE to test the supply chain and security systems in the major sectors of the two countries during a crisis or disaster and to identify the points of improvement and develop an implementation plan to address them.

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In the field of logistics and infrastructure, an initiative was reviewed and launched with the aim of unifying the procedures, facilities and legislations for the travel of disabled and special needs persons​, in addition to the joint market initiative in aviation.

The members of the Executive Committee team were accredited by the two sides to study, evaluate and follow up the project.

In the field of financial services and markets, the virtual currency project was launched on an experimental basis and is restricted to trading between a number of banks in both countries in order to explore and prepare for future technologies.

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Last June, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, chaired the first meeting of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council in Jeddah.

The debut meeting served to announce the organizational structure of the Council, formed in May 2016 to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of economy, human development, and political and military security integration, and the well-being of the societies of the two countries.