This came during the joint ministerial meeting between Their Highnesses and Excellencies the Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries and the Association of Caribbean States, today, Monday, September 18, 2023, on the sidelines of the meetings of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York, the United States of America. The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, Chairman of the current session, and with the participation of His Excellency Mr Albert Ramdin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Suriname and Chairman of the Ministerial Council of the Association of Caribbean States and His Excellency Mr Rodolfo Sabong, Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States.

His Excellency the Secretary General stated that the most important outcomes of this meeting could be summarised by the two sides agreeing to hold a summit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to the Caribbean countries expressing their wishes to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for success in its candidacy to host Expo 2030.

Moreover, His Excellency the Secretary General also congratulated the Association of Caribbean States on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of its founding, stressing the importance of the regional partnership between the countries of the Cooperation Council and the countries of the Association of Caribbean States in all areas of common interest, including political dialogue, investment and tourism.

Besides, His Excellency the Secretary General, after signing the MoU with His Excellency the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States, stated that the approval of the joint action plan between the GCC and the Association of Caribbean States for the years (2023-2027) defines the main objectives and mechanisms for political dialogue, trade facilitation, investment promotion and tourism cooperation, stressing that it will contribute to achieving Increasing trade and investment flows between the two regions, as the volume of trade between the GCC countries and the Association of Caribbean Nations in 2021 reached about $6.5 billion, and it also provides a framework for upgrading the volume of trade and investment through dialogue between officials from both sides and participation with businessmen and regional and international organisations, purposely to meet investment needs and business opportunities, including transportation and logistics, in accordance with the mechanisms stipulated in the joint action plan.