Leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are to meet Monday afternoon in Kuwait City for their 30th summit, with economic integration and regional hot-spot issues looming high on their agenda.
The following is an introduction of the GCC, a political and economic alliance that has gained steady growth in recent years.
Founded in 1981, the GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sitting atop the largest crude exporting region in the world, the six countries together hold around 45 percent of the global oil reserves and contribute 16 million barrels of crude per day.
The main functioning bodies of the bloc are the Supreme Council, the Ministerial Council and the Secretariat General.
The Supreme Council is the highest decision-making body of the bloc, with its yearly presidency rotated according to the alphabetical order of the names of the member states. The council hold one regular session annually.
Foreign ministers and delegated ministers of member states make up the Ministerial Council, whose job include proposing policies, preparing
recommendations, studies and projects aimed at promoting cooperation and coordination between member states and adopting the resolutions or
recommendations required in that regard.
The Secretariat General, the administrative body of the organization's daily work, comprises a secretary general and three assistant secretary
generals. The secretary general is appointed by the Supreme Council to take up a three-year job.
Leaders of the six countries meet in November or December every year for their annual summit. Ministers also meet on a regular basis or emergency meeting to discuss major issues in economy and politics to coordinate stance and action.
Since its establishment, members have made remarkable headway on the road to economic integration, including the establishment of a customs union in 2003 and the initiative to create a unified Gulf currency.