It is a great honor to welcome you on behalf of the United Arab Emirates and I would like to extend our gratitude for your attendance and for your valuable participation in the functions of the Secretaries of the Ministerial Committee for Mail, Telecommunications and Information Technology of GCC. I would like also to congratulate H.E. Abdullah Bin Juma Al Shibly for the recent appointment as the Deputy Secretary General of the GCC for Economic Affairs, wishing him and his dedicated team all the best going forward.

I am also pleased to extend my thanks to our GCC gusts, wishing them all prosperity under the umbrella of the GCC, praying to Al Mighty Allah to bless them and grant them more strength, and guide them to paths which lead to further prosperity and welfare for the GCC, and to more pride and growth to our countries.

Distinguished audience,

We are meeting here today to discuss a few economic issues pertaining to our Gulf region in the fields of Mail, telecommunications and information technology. To this end, I would like to emphasize the importance of our collective work which is considered to be one of the most important characteristics of the GCC, under the wise and insightful leaderships of our countries.
The agenda items for these two days, which are related to the telecommunications and mail fields, are important and sufficient to set suitable applicable recommendations, taking into consideration the swift developments witnessed by this sector in our countries, which are in line with the latest international developments.

The main topics to be discussed will be the roaming charges among GCC countries, in accordance with the recent ministerial resolution which was issued during the Kuwait session held last year considering the great importance of this topic to the GCC countries. I would like to refer here to the clear and dedicated efforts made by the General Secretariat and the GCC member countries last year regarding this topic, and also to the efforts made by the GCC work team on roaming charges among the GCC countries. Today, we are close to reaching proper recommendations that will be referred to the Esteemed Ministers who will adopt the resolution in their meeting.

Another important topic will be the transition in the GCC from Analog Radio Broadcast to Digital Broadcast, and the enormous benefits for the GCC from such transition in the field of televised telecommunication services, which will have its positive social and economic impacts on the GCC countries.

In the field of mail, there will be a few topics which we will discuss on our agenda, such as the GCC preparation for the next World Mail Summit to be held in Qatar. In addition, further discussion topics include the bill which is to be enacted in GCC countries to regulate the work and activities of private companies working in the field of mail, cargo and courier, and other topics of multilateral importance to the GCC countries.

I wish you all the best in your deliberations; I would like to express my thanks and appreciation again for your attendance, and for your priceless cooperation in the GCC with the aim of fostering our collective GCC work. I would also like to thank the General Secretariat and its staff for the hard work done in directing the work of different committees and panels. I would like to express my gratitude to the mail, telecommunications work teams and all other related departments in the GCC countries for their contributions and participation in these committees and panels, either by submitting their work papers, or by their deliberations on the issues of discussion.

I would like to reaffirm that we in the UAE administration, along with our working teams, will make all possible efforts to ensure session success, and participate effectively and with full cooperation with our brothers in the GCC countries in drafting the proper strategic recommendations for your esteemed meeting.

Concluding, I would like to wish you an enjoyable and comfortable stay in your second home “the United Arab Emirates,” and wish you all the best.

Thank you.