GCC Full Form

The GCC full form is Gulf Cooperation Council. The union of six countries of the Middle East came into existence through an agreement in 1981 which was concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This union not only focuses on economic unity but political as well along with military unity. It promotes trade, unified military, research and technology, trade among the countries, etc. It is one of the important international as well as regional bodies that gives a platform to put their opinions in front of others. 

Here, the GCC full form, GCC experience full form, and other related information about this body such as its logo and flag, economy, and political aspects, are discussed.

GCC Long Form

The current and full name of this council is "Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf" whereas it is still popularly known as GCC which was its former name. If we talk about the GCC full form, it refers to the Gulf Cooperation Council which is an economic as well as political cooperation that was established through an agreement between all the Arab Countries of the Persian Gulf except Iraq. It was formed to strengthen the ties between the people of the region, to formulate similar rules and regulations, and to cooperate on various aspects such as economy, finance, customs, administration, legislations, and tourism, etc. It was formed to foster cooperation between the countries in science and technology in various areas such as industry, mining, agriculture, etc. 

Full Form of GCC Countries

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If we talk about the full form of GCC countries, it refers to the countries which are part of GCC ie. Gulf Cooperation Council. There are total 6 countries that are part of this council which is given below:

1. Saudi Arabia

2. Qatar

3. Oman

4. UAE

5. Bahrain

6. Kuwait

Besides these, there are possibilities to provide memberships in the future to other countries such as Yemen, Jordan as well as Morocco. Out of the 6 above-mentioned countries, 2 are absolute monarchies i.e Saudi Arabia and Oman, 3 countries are having constitutional monarchy i.e Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait whereas 1 country i.e UAE is a federal monarchy. 

Flag and Logo

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We have learned the GCC long form which is "Gulf Cooperation Council." The flag and the logo of GCC are formed of two concentric circles where "Bismillah" is written on the upper part which simply means "in the name of God" whereas in Arabic words it is written at the lower part. The inner hexagonal part represents the six members of the council whereas the inner part of the hexagonal shape comprises a map of the Arabian peninsula. The different colours on the edges of the hexagonal shape represent the different flags of the countries.

Economy

We have covered the full form of Gulf Countries and GCC. Let's talk about its economy:

• In order to realize a single and integrated market, a common market was launched by the council in 2008 which helps in easing the movement of goods and services whereas the customs union began in 2003 and became fully operational in 2015. Full equality is provided to all the GCC citizens in order to work in the government and private sectors. 

• In 2014, four countries took steps to ensure a single currency i.e Kuwait, Qatar, Saudia Arabia, and Bahrain. Right now, the trade between the countries is done on the basis of the basket of currencies of the GCC.

• The countries of GCC are some of the examples of fastest-growing economies in the world whereas their GDP stands at $1.638 trillion.

Politics and Governance

• Supreme Council

The supreme council of GCC has the head of the member states. It is the highest body of the GCC that sets its vision and goals. The decisions which are taken by the council are different according to the situations. On basic issues, it requires a unanimous decision and in procedural matters, it requires a majority for the decision. The presidency of the council is rotatory, it is based on the alphabetical order of the names of the members.

• Ministerial council

It consists of foreign ministers of all the members. It causes to be sent for three months to prepare the policies and promote cooperation and coordination among the state members on the ongoing projects. For the approval of the supreme council, its decisions are submitted in the form of recommendation. It is also attending the meetings of the supreme council and responsible for the agenda. The voting process is as same as the supreme council.

• Secretarial General

It is the executive part of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Secretary-General is Nayef Falah Mubarak Al Hajraf and its deputies named Abdulaziz Al Auwaishig and Khalifa Alfadhe. It decides within its members and its function to implement those decisions which are approved by the supreme council and ministerial council. It convened the cooperation, coordination, and planning for the common action which is related to the studies. It formulated the report of the GCC that includes the work done by the organization and the implementation of its decisions. 

• Monetary Council

Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia create the Monetary Council on 15 December 2009. It is created to introduce a single currency for the union. On 30th March 2010, the board of the council met for the first time to make a timetable and plan for the establishment of the central bank and currency regime. On 8 December 2009, the foreign minister of Kuwait named Mohammad Sabah Al- Sabah said that the single currency can take the time of ten years to establish but the target was the year 2010. Later, Oman and UAE announced the withdrawal from the currency. Other moves were taken to ensure the launch of a single currency. On the other side, the finance minister of Kuwait said that the currency should be implemented without the delay. The monetary council was renewed with the negotiations of the UAE and Oman.

• GSO refers to the GCC Standardization Organization which is the standardization body of the GCC and Yemen is also part of this organization. Besides this, in 1976 a body was formed by the GCC known as Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting. Its headquarters is situated in Doha, Qatar and Yemen joined this body in 2009. 

Thus to sum up the discussion of GCC, we can say that it is one of the important regional as well as international bodies that consists of states of the Persian Gulf except for Iraq. This body provides a platform to these states for economic as well as political cooperation. In this article, we learned about the full form of GCC countries and GCC experience full form and their economy, formation, and political aspects. The members of this council are known as GCC countries or Gulf Countries. This body remains in news most of the time and thus is an important part of international relations.