Committee on Foreign Affairs Ordinary meeting
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AFET European Parliament
Follow its sittingsJasem Al-Budaiwi
Strengthening these relations is no longer a political option but a strategic necessity driven by the nature of our shared challenges. At this point, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the high level of working relations between the GCC and the European External Action Service of the European Union. Recently, I met with her excellency, Miss Kaya Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the European Commission, during which we held a very important and open conversation and demonstrated the following three realities. One, the GCC and European Union share many common positions on regional and international issues. Two, this dialogue between both sides is essential and successful in addressing a wide range of these issues.
Three, GCC and EU relations have reached a level of maturity that requires moving from dialogue to deeper practical and institutional coordination, to engage in a true strategic partnership across all areas of mutual interest. This includes many aspects such as enhancing cooperation in digital transformation, critical infrastructure, communication, and artificial intelligence in a way that supports scientific research and innovation. Ladies and gentlemen, strengthening political and security communication is a key pillar in addressing current challenges, including our shared commitment to international law, the rule of law, justice, and equality, and meeting the aspirations of our people for security, stability, and economic prosperity. The GCC looks forward to holding the second GCC EU summit under these developments, aiming to advance our relations to broader horizons. We hope the summit will deliver tangible outcomes that reflect the depth of these strategic partnerships, including the launch of negotiations on Schengen visa waiver for GCC citizens, as well as progress on the free trade agreement negotiations and signing the terms of references as early as possible.
These steps would have a positive impact on economic, trade, and cultural exchanges. Please also allow me to list to your kind attention other areas where the GCC would like to reach tangible results with the EU. One, exporting energy through electricity interconnection lines between the GCC countries and the European Union. Two, exporting clean hydrogen to European Union countries, whether via pipelines or carriers. Three, enhancing logistical connectivity between the GCC and the European Union through the railway network and airports.
Four, data connectivity between the GCC and the European Union. Five, security is a fundamental pillar of development, which requires intensified cooperation between the GCC and the European Union to enhance prospects for peace and achieve stability. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the key points we wish to emphasize today is the role of parliamentary engagement. The European Parliament is not only a legislative body, but also an influential political actor in shaping European directions, especially in times of complex challenges. In this context, we look forward to strengthening parliamentary cooperation between our two blocks to institutionalize it, in order to build on the current momentum by developing a GCC parliamentary cooperation mechanism.
I am pleased to note that we shared last week with the European Parliament a proposal for such a mechanism between GCC legislative council and the European Parliament. Once agreed, it can be signed at earliest opportunity. This mechanism aimed to enhance consultation and coordination on regional and international issues of mutual interest, develop legislative cooperation, build sustainable institutional capacities, and strengthen the role of parliaments in supporting peace and sustainable development. Ladies and gentlemen, the stability of the Gulf Region does not only affect regional security, but also extends to global stability, including issues such as the global economy, supply chains, and energy security. In this context, we emphasize that the GCC countries have demonstrated their abilities to maintain internal stability and continue their role as an important economic and development hub, despite current challenges.
This reflects the strength, the stability, the sustainability, and the resilience of their institutions and the effectiveness of their policies. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to end my intervention by stating the following facts. One, the GCC remains a reliable and responsible partner on both regional and international stages. Two, the GCC reaffirms its commitment to strengthening regional and international stability. Three, the GCC believes that cooperation and coordination with the European Union, supported by the European Parliament, are key pillars in addressing current challenges.
In conclusion, we look forward to continuing this constructive dialogue and strengthening cooperation in a way that serves our shared interest and contributes to building a more stable and more prosperous future. Again, thank you, David, for inviting me to this very important forum. Thank you very much.
David McAllister
Dear secretary general, your excellency, thank you very much for your introductory statement, and you will be having meetings today and tomorrow with president Metzola, president von der Leyen, commissioner Brunner. So we very much know the honor and privilege that you first came to AFET to address these matters with us. Now before I give the floor to colleagues for questions and comments, throughout the last ten minutes, we have all been favored with regular notification sounds from a mobile phone or iPad. And we're all very impressed that, obviously, he or she gets an email once every minute or so. But would you please be so kind as to exactly turn this sound off now?
Whoever it is, we in Afrit don't do that. So turn it off. And if it's an unidentified telephone or an unaccompanied telephone, may I ask the ushers to just remove it? It's just annoying, and it's a sign of disrespect towards our guest. It's fine.
Michael Gahler
Thank you very much and very welcome here and for your outline. I think we share a lot of what you have expressed. You have seen the reactions from the European Union, also in the parliament, with regard to the attacks that were ongoing also from Iran. And so far, I mean, you are united in being the object of an attack, and we are not directly involved as being attacked, but we are affected immensely, of course, through the blockade of the state of Hormuz. And so there is ample need to coordinate and to cooperate with you, especially for the future when this dreadful war is hopefully soon over.
And still, I mean, you are a messenger and you report back. I mean, we see your divisions that you have amongst yourselves. We see effects and policies that some of your member states pursue, especially in Sudan. If you can communicate to those concerned that they should stop it simply and save the money, for reconstruction and do the things that are necessary in the Gulf area for cooperation. I mean, we are very much concerned of what's ongoing in this part of the world and in Africa affected, or fueled, be it Saudi Arabia or The United Arab Emirates.
That is not in your interest at the end, and not in ours, and not in the country's given. That is the one thing. The other thing is, I think, a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates is on the agenda, but that cannot, so to say, in my mind, be seen together, what now, in the given situation. So, your individual member states of The Gulf Cooperation Council should there get we would welcome if you get your acts together amongst yourselves, settle differences, and join forces for having a common stance towards the Muller regime, but also, towards us when it is about cooperation. So that enables us to do far more in the area that is necessary to be addressed.
Tobias Cremer
Thank you very much, your excellency, for coming, especially at this moment where I think the crisis in the region is very acute. So I think it's all the more important that you are here today, and that's where we can have this conversation. I'm very glad about your remarks. I can echo what my colleague, Michel Gale, said about that. I think it was also a very good sign that we had this meeting between the GCC and the council very early on in the conflict and that we now look into how to cooperate there more closely because what we are seeing is very clear that the threats that you are under and that we are under are linked by also the alliance between Iran and Russia, very clearly, that Russia is supporting Iran when it comes to weapons, when it comes to intelligence, but also when it comes to finances.
And I am very glad that President Ukraine or President Zelensky of Ukraine was in. The Gulf Region has had a lot of, like, bilateral meetings and bilateral agreements. And the first question I would have is whether there's also some cooperation on the go on the GCC level, with Ukraine, whether you've been looking into moving from the bilateral point to a more institutional cooperation with Ukraine, especially when it comes to coordination of support in air defense. So using Ukrainian drones, but also making sure that we don't compete with one another, when it comes to critical air defense from the United States, but that we find a way to cooperate there given that it is a shared challenge. And my second question would be, we have heard very clearly from our American allies what they would see as a role for European partners in this moment.
But I'd be actually much more intrigued to hear from the GCC and from our regional partners what you think a most productive role for the for Europe and the EU would be in this conflict right now, but especially once there's a peace agreement and, once again, how you see the cooperation between the EU and the GCC concretely with measures of how we can contribute to security and peace in that region. And finally, I just want to echo what Michel Gahler has said, that you talk about increased cooperation, trade, etcetera. I'm fully on board with that. But once again, we'd be grateful if you could carry that back to some of your member states as well. That, of course, makes it much harder for us.
If we then see the images of Sudan and the role that some of the member states are alleged to play there, that makes it much harder to go further than that corporation. But, yes, my other two questions, I'd be very intrigued to hear your view on that. Thank you.
Speaker 10
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mister secretary general, thank you very much for coming and speaking to us. We always appreciate that. And I must say that, I see in this parliament a very strong will to cooperate with the Gulf countries, both individually and in a group. And I I'd like to commend the work of the president of the delegation for the Gulf Region, mister my colleague, mister Lubavka, who has been very active in this role.
Well, this said, the Gulf countries are an essential partner for the Europeans, and this is not just words. This is a fact because we have our problems. We have our misunderstandings as well. So we cannot give moral lessons to others on how they should behave or how they should be united if we are not ourselves. Well, but nevertheless, I'd like to tell you that we make an effort here to be, as a whole, at least a very strong group vis-à-vis The Gulf.
This said, I'd like to ask your attention for a couple of things. I know that conflicts mainly in that region, in the Middle East, are not to be solved. They are to be managed. We did the same in other parts of the world, like Bosnia, for instance, and now the situation does not seem to be easily solved. But there's a small detail, which is not small at all, that I'd like to ask for your attention, and that is the support of certain countries in the Gulf Region to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood is doing a very bad job in Europe already. There was the report of the French secret services about that in my country as well. In other countries, I mean, they go very smoothly and quietly, but in fact, they could spoil the relations between you and us, and spoil the relations among us ourselves as well. So this detail that I think nobody else would like to speak about, I'd like to have your attention on this for the future and act upon it. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary.
Speaker 12
Thank you for joining us this morning, and for your introductory words. A few quick questions on the current conflict in the Middle East. Has the Gulf Cooperation Council explicitly supported disarming Hezbollah, which is part of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon? Another more general question connected to a peace agreement in the region. What is the GCC's position when it comes to Lebanon's inclusion in the peace agreement?
Would the GCC support a global agreement or separate agreements? Thank you.
Petras Auštrevičius
Thank you, chair. Secretary General, welcome to the European Parliament. It's always good, I mean, to get into the dialogue and establish bridges. As you said, I mean, to quote you, your exchange with the high representative, Kayakalas, was among other things about you discussed both sides sharing understanding. Mister secretary general, do you share the European imminent concern about the Russian threat to European security?
In this regard, does the JCC consider asking member states, your member states, to obey sanctions regimes we have imposed against Russia because we want to stop this war, assist Ukraine in reconstruction and modernization. But there are some examples of circumvention of sanctions through certain ties between Gulf countries and the Russian Federation. And as you know, we call Russia, among other countries, including Iran, an evil ring, which does destroy international order to which you alluded as well. Secondly, you mentioned the need to expand and to develop cooperation. With which I agree.
As you know, we have developed the European Union, a kind of security and defense partnership instrument, which is a serious one. It's a relatively new instrument with a new substance and new goals. Up to now, 12 countries, member states, have already signed or are in a process of agreeing. What is your opinion about the Gulf countries' interest, any of them, citing a security and defense partnership agreement with the European Union? Thank you for your replies.
Hannah Neumann
Thank you, chair, and thank you, Yassim, for being with us again. And also thank you for your important work in difficult times. Colleagues of mine have already asked very good questions on Russia and Sudan, so I can focus more on the situation in the Middle East. And here we are somehow again on the same side these days, I would say, because neither the EU nor the GCC wanted this war, but we clearly have to deal with its consequences. The consequences are problematic for us in the European Union, but they are even more drastic for the Gulf countries.
And I'm afraid there might even be more problems ahead. So first of all, I would like to express my hour of solidarity with the Gulf countries in the face of Iranian attacks. In the shadow of this big escalation, we also see so many things happening in the region that usually would make it upfront on the headlines, but they are just happening in the shade, such as Israel expanding settlements in the West Bank and passing apartheid laws, militias in Iran, militias in Iraq killing democracy and women's rights activists, the Iranian regime forcibly disappearing and executing protesters. And after I think we all have stared a bit into the abyss last week, with this threat of annihilation on the table. We at least have a ceasefire now, but we have negotiation dynamics driven by Donald Trump, Netanyahu, and the Iranian regime.
And frankly, that doesn't make me feel very comfortable. So I'm convinced if the European Union and the GCC would join forces, we could become an actor in this and to complement, basically, the people that created the madness trying to solve the madness without even being willing to uphold ideas such as international law, respect in international relations, or the rights of the Iranian people to decide by themselves by whom and how they want to be governed because this has been totally kicked off the agenda. I mean, and that's the question I have to ask ourselves, and we have to ask this to our leaders. But as you are here now, we can also ask this to the GCC: why don't we start our own initiative to try to solve this mess rather than staring at these people solving it where we know they won't? Where's the push, for example, to initiate a Middle East conference thinking about ways ahead based on international law, proper international relations, and the rights of the Iranian people?
Speaker 16
So we should ask this to our leadership, but now, as you're here, that is basically my key question to you. Where's the GCC push in this regard?
Danilo Della Valle
Thank you. I will switch to Italian. Grazie, please.
Thank you, chair. Thank you for this opportunity for an exchange of views, and I'd very much like to thank Mr. Al Budaiwi for addressing us here. I'd like to express my solidarity with all of those victims, including those in Iran who've suffered from this bombing and being deprived of all kinds of basic human rights, humanitarian considerations, children who've been bombed as well was an outrage. This crisis and this conflict have also shown how the EU's strategy has failed. The European Commission had been counting on countries in the Gulf to replace fossil fuels from Russia, not concerned about human rights, women's rights, and other concerns where we've seen massacres, Darfur, and so on.
Speaker 19
I don't need to go over all of that. But now what we're seeing is that the EU energy market is more fragile and entirely at the whim of US foreign policy. EU citizens are paying an exorbitant price for a war, which we Europeans don't support. We didn't start, and we don't know what the US's final motivation is. It's all rather an enigma, and we haven't fully understood what the EU High Representative is doing or stands for.
Danilo Della Valle
My question to you, mister Al Boudaiwi, is that you haven't mentioned Israel in terms of the current situation. The Abraham Accords, are they still at the heart of your foreign policy? This alliance with the US, does it mean that you should sacrifice the stability of the entire region with this forever war that the US is waging on Iran?
Stanislav Stoyanov
You, chair. I will proceed to Bulgaria. Your
Excellency. In Europe, we very well know from our own bitter experience that condemning a certain aggression or imposing sanctions does not bring about quick results. This is more than obvious. You are an experienced diplomat. You've worked in the U.
S. And in Europe. Now you've spoken about this already, but can you be more specific? What are the most important concrete steps you'd like to see us take in order to avoid an even more serious escalation in the Gulf? And how do we need to work in order to solve the conflict and achieve peace?
Speaker 20
What would you expect from us? What would be the most useful action to take? Thank you.
David McAllister
He's already been praised, but now I'm happy to give the floor to the chairman of the delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, our colleague Arnold Lopatka, for two minutes.
Reinhold Lopatka
Thank you very much, dear Secretary General, Albu Davey. Two weeks ago, before the war started, the experienced Saudi diplomat, Prince Dukib Ibn Faisal, told me a war would be a nightmare for the Gulf countries, and the nightmare became reality. We have to see it. The shock of daily rockets and drones is like we would experience if they were falling over Brussels, Berlin, Rome, or Paris. So talking about the region, we must always keep in mind that Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism.
It is the country causing the most instability in the entire Middle East, as well as horrific suffering of its own people. The Iranian regime massacred thousands of its own citizens only in January, who dared to demand freedom. So now Iran is hitting the Gulf region, and this aggression was, of course, against sovereign states and their people. And as chair of our delegation, I contend, immediately, these attacks in the strongest possible terms. And we are in a good exchange.
We had eight incoming and outgoing interparliamentary meetings, and we continue to, with our work to discuss regional security, economic cooperation, energy transition, people to people contacts, and to strengthen institutional relations. It is in our both interests. And, yes, we also expect your support when we talk about the war in Ukraine. And I see Gulf countries as strong partners with increasing importance because you play in different conflicts a big role. And please, also listen to us, to my colleague, Michael, Kala, when we talk about Sudan.
So what I want to say, and I want to finish with this, we have to see, yes, the Gulf countries as strong strategic partners. When they are under attack, and you could hear it, Europe is not silent. And the Iranian people, they deserve freedom. You deserve stability and security. And Europe and the European Union must be on the right side of history, and I'm sure we are.
David McAllister
Thank you, dear Ronald. Other members who would like to take the floor, we have two requests: mister Brown and mister Schindahl. Anyone else? Sorry. Madam Sorel.
So that's free. We want to give our guest speaker at least 15 minutes. So if you could limit yourself to a maximum of one and a half minutes. And our first speaker is Mr. Brown.
Nathaniel Brown
Let me first express my sympathy and sorrow because of all the losses, all the human, property, and business losses that you suffer. But since we can observe visibly that Israeli and American aggression against Iran does not solve any problem. It only multiplies problems in your region since you can observe that the very presence of US military factor in your region has a purely destabilizing effect. Wouldn't you reconsider your reconciliation with Iran? You have a good example a few years ago, Iranian, Saudi Arabian reconciliation and normalization brokered by China, by the way. And wouldn't you follow that example based on your own sovereign interests, not based on any far away foreign interference, because your region is very dear, is very important for all the world, for Europe, especially for all our countries.
We wish you the best of luck in establishing a new peace zone in the Gulf Region based on your sovereign interests. Thank you very much.
Villy Søvndal
Thank you very much, and thank you very much for being here. And once again, all the solidarity we can show for the situation you have ended up with without your will. But also, thank you very much for the very practical possibilities of a strengthened cooperation you pointed out. They're most welcome, and I think we should follow up on these. Even the situation is very difficult.
I have a case I want to mention to you. I worked as Danish foreign minister for three years and worked intensively for freeing a man who is present now in Bahrain. His name is Abdulhadi Alkavacha. His crime is that he tried to fight for human rights, and he's been in prison now for 15 years. I would ask you in your capacity if you would help with this case.
He has been declared arbitrary prisoner by the UN. He has released his release would align with Bahrain's international obligations and enhance the DCC also. So please, would you look into this case? Would you speak to the Bahrain government? And we would be very happy from the Danish side to see this man released.
Thank you very much.
David McAllister
Thank you. And before I give the floor to Miss Sorrell, once again, on our phones, there's a knob where you can turn them silent. It's not rocket science. It's just you need to press a button. I think you're able to do so.
If not, please leave the room for good. Miss Sorrell.
Speaker 24
Thank you. Your Excellency. When analyzing the conflict, you mentioned attacks. You talked about bases on your territory that should not be used. Do you believe that is the only reason?
Or what about the forever conflict between the Shiites and the Sunnis that may be reactivated? And what about the view that people in the region have of your alliance with The U? S? Another point raised by my colleague that I would like to repeat here. What is your view of the Abraham Agreement or Accords?
What impact do you think that will have on developments in the region and the war started by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu? Thank you for your feedback.
David McAllister
Thank you, colleagues. No further request to take the floor. Dear Secretary General, you have ten minutes now to respond to as many questions and comments as possible. The floor is yours. We're looking forward.
Jasem Al-Budaiwi
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. McAllister. I'll start with the question about Ukraine cooperation with the GCC. Last September in New York, I signed with the deputy minister of Ukraine a joint action plan, GCC, Ukraine joint action plan. I couldn't sign it with the minister because he couldn't come because of the attacks on his country.
So the deputy minister was already there, and I signed with her a joint action plan. This joint action plan entails many subjects, many issues, many aspects regarding exchange of science, technology, energy, economy, agriculture, food security, many aspects in it that will help GCC and Ukraine get closer to each other. The GCC countries held a joint ministerial meeting with the six ministers of foreign affairs with the Ukraine minister. Two years ago, we were planning to get a second one. There is a will, we gave him once a date.
He could not make it. So there is a great cooperation between Ukraine and the GCC. I understand that there are a few countries now in the GCC using Ukraine technology to shut down the drones from Iran. So we value our relationship very much with Ukraine. We are standing by it.
We have Saudi Arabia, for example, held the first peace talk in Jeddah a year and a half ago, I think, or something. United Arab Emirates has done many prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. I think Qatar also played a role in that part. So we do our best with our friends in Ukraine. We are helping in many aspects.
I don't have a list of the assistance we have given Ukraine, but we do a lot with them, and we are engaged with them on so many levels. The last time I saw the Ukraine foreign minister was in the Munich Security Conference last February, so almost two months ago. And I saw the Ukraine ambassador in Saudi Arabia actually two days ago, not last week, two days ago. Since I'm talking about the Ukraine issue, I will because I had also some other issue question on Ukraine. We have many engagements with Russia, and we have strategic discussions with them on an annual basis where we sit and discuss every single aspect of this relationship.
And it is clear and transparent in our message to them that international law and order must be maintained, and no issues of any conflict or any problem should be resolved by invasion or by war or by agony or by the use of force. We totally understand that this aggression and any aggression has to be stopped, and dialogue and diplomacy must be the key for any conflict. You're talking to a guy from Kuwait, so I know exactly what an invasion is. And when a country invades a country, I totally associate myself with it, and I know that this is not the right way. This is not the right measure to take to solve problems.
On Hezbollah's weapon, of course, we do not agree that Hezbollah should have weapons inside Lebanon. We've issued many statements on this. Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist group in the GCC. We did that in 2014, not now. So we were way ahead of everybody when we did that in 02/2014.
Lebanon is a very important file for the GCC. We have provided Lebanon with so much help and assistance. We are standing by our brothers and sisters there in Lebanon. We are supporting all international efforts in order to help Lebanon. On sanctions, the GCC countries know that the right tool to use sanctions is through United Nation charters.
We have joined many international sanctions on many groups and countries. We do believe that the best and the most practical is to do it through the United Nations, and we are part of many sanctions on so many countries. A gentleman asked me about a security or defense agreement. I don't know if this is the first time I heard about it, but I am sure if the GCC countries are introduced to it, they will study it. We have many bilateral security agreements with many countries.
We have four of the six countries with NATO in a dialogue called Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. We do a huge cooperation and discussion and engagement in security and defense with many countries. A gentleman asked me on what we can what the EU can do more in this conflict. Mister Costa is already in the region, and he has met some of the leaders of the GCC. I am sure the European Union in its weight as one of the most important blocks in the world can play a major role in resolving any conflicts.
You were part of the GCPOA with Iran many years ago, and you played a major role in that. You have the right tools in the EU to play any positive role in any conflict in the way. Somebody asked me about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the continuous aggression of Israel on Palestine. This issue is the number 1 issue for everybody in our region. There has to be a resolution to it.
We are doing our best to resolve it. Saudi Arabia led the world last year, in September, in holding the first ever international conference to recognize Palestine. That was a very successful conference. The outcome of it made two very important countries who are a permanent member of the Security Council join the alliance, France and The UK. So we have this momentum.
We have now the international community recognizing Palestine, the international community perception of the reason why the Palestinian people are living in agony, which is Israel and the current government and Netanyahu himself not believing in the two-state solution is a major issue for us. This is where we need to go. You also asked about the Ibrahim Accord. In September 2023, the crown prince, prime minister of Saudi Arabia, his royal highness, prince Mohammed bin Salman, was on TV in a TV interview saying that they were talking with Israel. Their peace is coming closer.
They are day by day, if I remember his expression that he said, day by day peace is coming closer to the region. That was September 2023. Unfortunately, October 2023, Israeli started its hatred, revenge against the civilian peaceful people of Gaza, and look where we are now. So we do believe that peace and stability are something very important to our region. We have introduced the peace Arab initiative, which was in 2002.
If you bring it now, it can be implemented, and peace can be reached in the our region. So this is something we don't give our back to. This is our number 1 issue, and we are working on it. They are light. Our assistance to our sisters and brothers in Palestine is continuous, even when we are under attack.
Now we are continuing our humanitarian and development support to them. A gentleman asked me why don't we reach peace with Iran. Do you know how many times we have reached out to the Iranians asking them for that? Many times. Many times.
The last of which was October 2024, and I was a witness for that. We held our first ever GCC Iran ministerial meeting October 2024 in Doha, where the six foreign ministers, Iraq, the foreign minister of Iran, and myself, we told him and gave him all the assurances that what we need is peace and stability. We did not only talk about the challenges with Iran. We talked about the opportunities. Then the six foreign ministers told Iraq that this is a prosperous region.
There is more good that could come out of bad. We gave him all the assurances, and we told him where we exactly need to go and what are the points, the steps that we need to take in order to reach peace and stability. Iran is our neighbor, and we are Iran's neighbor. So we need to find a way. But look what happened.
On the same day they get attacked, we get attacked. They know they knew exactly where to attack, which means that they have been planning this for many years. It's not something that they just came up or thought about. It is a plan that they had in their agenda. So it's not something really new or this is a totally hidden agenda.
I think I've covered everything. On my dear friend Zhanna, question on the peace initiative, of course, we are open to any ideas. That's why we have this dialogue. That's why Luigi was in the region, Kaya, and now Mr. Costa. If there is a realistic peace initiative for this conflict or any other conflict, believe me, the GCC countries will be the first ones to be there.
This is why we saw and we still see Oman continues its great role in bringing together The US and Iran. They've hosted the dialogue. They've chaperoned it. And, of course, any initiative we can be part of. We have a prosperous, great region.
We are, the six of us, 2,400,000,000,000 our GDP, which makes us the ninth or the tenth internationally. We control 33% of all the international investment, the FDIs. We are number one oil reserve, number two gas reserve. We, our capital markets are extremely high among the best. We have built so much in that region.
We are working hard to maintain it, and we want our neighbors also to have this prosperity and peace. This is something we can share with everybody. Thank you very much.
David McAllister
Dear Secretary General, thank you so much for attending today's meeting. We wish you successful two days in Brussels. All your meetings, colleagues, since we're running over time already, I will just simply close this item now, and see you all at half past two for the next part of our agenda. Thank you.
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