GCC countries must hasten plans to create a unified currency or risk significant damage to their economies in the long term, a Kuwaiti minister said.

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and Deputy Premier Shaikh Dr Mohammad Al Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah called for the next Gulf Summit in Kuwait to urgently concentrate on the creation of a unified market, claiming that the region needed to form an economic climate that allowed GCC countries to approach external economic shocks without fear of ruin.

Shaikh Mohammad was giving his keynote address at the opening of a major security summit, currently being held at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa in Manama  on Friday night.

The sixth annual Manama Dialogue has caused an influx of some of the globe's most important military chiefs and political leaders as regional and world security is placed firmly under the magnifying glass.

Shaikh Mohammad explained that GCC countries were facing short, medium and long-term challenges to security and prosperity in the Gulf region, and it was pertinent that many of the region's policy-makers will be in attendance over the next three days.

He said that just looking at a map of the region highlighted a number of security and political challenges which GCC nations would have to address, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, tensions between Iran and the international community, the atrocities in Palestine and the crisis in Yemen.

“The responsibility of Gulf countries has increased significantly in recent years and we now have a responsibility to protect and guarantee the stability of the area,” he said.

“Gulf diplomacy has already achieved many positive results including stability and peace in the area despite the storm which surrounds us.

“This diplomacy has guaranteed us an exceptional position in terms of our relationship with other countries.”

Shaikh Mohammad said there were also economic challenges which needed addressing, including the quasi-total dependence of many economies in the region on oil as a source of income.

He also pointed to general economic stability, market crashes, volatile food markets and the constant change in the price of oil as issues that are of great strategic importance to GCC countries.

“We must increase our efforts to face such challenges and work together in order to strengthen our economies and protect them from such risks,” he said.

“In order to face these challenges, the GCC countries have to hasten the creation of a unified market with two sides: a customs union and a monetary union.

“Apart from creating a Gulf economic climate that can face the external shocks without damage, we must allow Gulf capital to build the economic structures necessary to increase job opportunities for regional citizens.”

Shaikh Mohammad also pointed to the long-term issue of ever-changing demographics in the region.

He explained that the GCC area has the highest demographic growth in the world, with around 24 per cent of its inhabitants under the age of 15.

GCC governments must therefore invest in their youth and seek to create job opportunities to ensure long-term prosperity for all their citizens, he added.

The Manama Dialogue is organised by world-leading think-tank, the UK-based Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which is in the process of setting up its regional office in Manama.

In his keynote address, IISS director-general and chief executive Dr John Chipman said they hoped the creation of their regional offices would allow them to broadcast perspectives from the Middle East and North African (MENA) region on key issues to an international audience.

He added the Manama office would bring the world of strategists to the Middle East and Middle East strategic perspectives to the wider world.

Around 320 delegates from more than 20 countries are taking part in this weekend's conference, with approximately 1,000 people expected to attend the summit at some point.

Some of the most notable delegates include Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Pakistani Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Qatari Foreign Minister Ahmed Al Mahmood, UAE's Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and British shadow foreign secretary William Hague.

Bahrain's delegation will include Deputy Premier Shaikh Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, as well as top officials from the Interior, Foreign, and Culture and Information ministries.

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa is an honorary governmental delegate at the event.

During the dialogue, which runs until tomorrow, delegates will debate threats and benefits posed by nuclear power in the Middle East.

They will also discuss the future of regional security, the piracy epidemic in the Gulf of Aden as well as security situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Southwest Asia and the Gulf.-TradeArabia News Service