Kuwaiti ambassador to Belgium, head of GCC mission in Brussels receive media delegation

 By Alya Al-Askari (with photos) BRUSSELS, Sept 29 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti Ambassador to Belgium Nabeela Al-Mulla and head of the GCC mission to the EU Ambassador Amal Al-Hamad received at the Kuwaiti Embassy here on Wednesday the GCC media delegation participating in the Gulf Research Center (GRC) training program.
Al-Mulla, during the reception, expressed satisfaction over the completion of all six Gulf states representation in Brussels, stressing that the EU is an example of integration, "we would like to learn from in the GCC." On the issue of GCC relations among State Members, she stressed that relations "are not enough, whereas; recently periodical evaluations are ongoing on GCC programs that include several agreements on electricity, joint railway, customs' union, joint currency, free trade and so on." Responding to a question by KUNA on the issue of GCC following in footsteps of the EU experience, and whether its benefiting from it, Ambassador Al-Mulla stressed that the GCC had learnt from the global financial crisis and how it affected Europe, which illustrated in reviewing the joint currency policies.
She also stressed that the EU cannot teach the GCC integration, "as one size doesn't fit all" she said.
Meanwhile, Al-Hamad explained that the GCC mission in Brussels comes under the umbrella of the 1988 cooperation agreement between the GCC and EU, which aims at following up the implementation of cooperation between the two sides, making sure that all meetings are carried out by all experts, including a monthly meeting among GCC ambassadors to discuss EU-related issues.
She also stressed the importance of the GCC media's input in strengthening relations with the EU, and opening the door for the GCC peoples to be more aware of these relations.
Al-Hamad underlined that cooperation between GCC and EU could be enhanced; an example to that is the GCC region has the oil and gas, but lacks the technology, therefore the EU should put more efforts in providing technology means and trained manpower in the field.
Meanwhile, she highly praised the Lisbon agreement, which is a boost in EU integration.
The GRC is currently holding a training program for GCC journalists in the framework of the al-Jisr project on EU-GCC Relations with the support of the European Commission in Brussels. (end) asa.hb KUNA 291752 Sep 10NNNN