By Nawaf Al-Deqbasi
DOHA, March 4 (KUNA) -- GCC leaders accord the youth in the Gulf region great importance as they are the building block for the region's future growth and development, a Kuwaiti minister said on Wednesday.
In a statement to KUNA following a meeting of GCC ministers of youth and sports here, Kuwait's Minister of Information and State Minister of Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Humoud Al-Sabah emphasized the need for the GCC states to fashion influential programs for the youth of the Gulf region aimed at instilling in them exemplary and meritorious values and steering them far away from extremism, intolerance, and zealotry.
To harness the boundless energy and creativity of the Gulf youth in a proper and methodical way would buttress the region's efforts at achieving maximum levels of progress and growth, said the minister.
Referring to today's ministerial meeting, he said the ministers discussed the advisability of engendering solid programs for the youth with the appropriate focus on bringing awareness to them about issues that concern them and their future, especially at a delicate time in the history of the Arab region with widespread acts of extremism and terrorism.
On a different note, he said Qatar should be fully supported for its ambitious bid to host the 2022 world cup, which will be a bright spot for Qatar and GCC states altogether. (pickup previous) nnd.ajs