GULF ARAB STATES MOVE TOWARDS ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

  Finance and economy ministers of the
  six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have ended talks
  after adopting resolutions and recommendations aimed at
  boosting economic integration.
      But the ministers from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
  Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not endorse a
  resolution on a common currency exchange rate system.
      The UAE's Minister of State for Finance and Industry, Ahmed
  Humaid al-Tayer, told reporters after the two-day talks that
  the ministers referred the issue back to GCC central bank
  governors for further discussion.
      He said the governors, who agreed in January on a proposed
  denominator on which the six currencies should be based, were
  asked to resubmit the recommendation before July, when finance
  ministers were due to meet in Saudi Arabia.
      Bankers said the central bank governors would meet soon to
  discuss the issue, adding there was a possibility that a new
  system could be submitted for final approval to a GCC summit
  conference scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia late this year.
      The denominator approved by the governors has not been made
  public, but banking sources said it could be similar to the
  European Monetary System (EMS).
      Tayer said the ministers agreed in principle to allow GCC
  citizens to set up businesses and work in any member state.
  They also agreed in principle on a recommendation for citizens
  to buy and own shares of GCC shareholding firms.
      He said the ministers discussed a report on imported goods
  containing radiation caused by last year's Chernobyl nuclear
  disaster in the Soviet Union, and agreed all products with
  excessive levels should be returned to the country of origin.
  

