Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Albudaiwi underscored that economic integration between the GCC and ASEAN represents a strategic pillar for bolstering investment flows and building partnerships that support mutual growth and prosperity.
He made the remarks during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dialogue session on regional integration and its link to investment, held in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday on the sidelines of the 9th World Investment Forum (WIF 2026), in the presence of several ministers and officials.
During the session, Albudaiwi said the global economy is undergoing profound, rapid transformations driven by geopolitical uncertainty, reshaping supply chains, and shifting international investment patterns. He noted that this underscores the importance of regional integration as a strategic choice that goes beyond expanding markets to build economies that are more resilient, competitive, and capable of attracting investment and confronting global challenges.
“Economic integration has formed one of the fundamental pillars of the development journey in the GCC states. Thanks to the wise visions and sound directives of the leaders of the GCC states, the member countries of the GCC have been able to achieve advanced strides on the track of the Customs Union and the Gulf Common Market, and in bolstering economic interconnectedness, thereby solidifying the GCC’s position as a global hub for trade, investment, energy, and logistics,” he stated.
Moreover, he pointed out that the economies of the GCC states today represent an influential economic force on the international stage, with a total GDP of approximately $2.4 trillion and a volume of merchandise trade approaching $1.8 trillion. “These indicators reflect the robustness of the Gulf economic base and the promising capabilities and investment opportunities possessed by the GCC states,” he highlighted.
He underscored that the experiences of both the GCC and ASEAN offer an exemplary model of how regional cooperation can boost economic competitiveness and open new horizons for investment. He pointed out that integration between the two sides is based on mutual economic advantages, combining the GCC states’ investment capabilities, energy sector resources, and advanced infrastructure with the industrial networks, dynamic markets, and interconnected production chains enjoyed by ASEAN countries.
He also said the two GCC-ASEAN summits, held in Riyadh in 2023 and Kuala Lumpur in 2025, laid a solid foundation for strengthening ties between the two sides. He affirmed that the next phase requires moving from shared consensus and vision to expanding investment flows, deepening supply-chain integration, and building productive partnerships that deliver economic value for both sides.
He stressed the importance of advancing practical cooperation between the GCC and ASEAN in advanced manufacturing, digital transformation, clean energy, logistics, and investment facilitation. This is in addition to ongoing discussions on the possibility of concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two sides, which would help remove barriers to trade and investment flows and open broader avenues for the private sector to capitalize on available economic opportunities.
Albudaiwi concluded his participation by underlining that the GCC and ASEAN’s shared ambition should transcend the boundaries of traditional cooperation to build a more interconnected and integrated economic space. “In this space, the gains of regional integration would transform into cross-regional investments, mutual economic advantages into sustainable productive partnerships, and political commitments into tangible economic opportunities that reflect positively on the economic growth and prosperity of the peoples in both regions,” he remarked.
Source: Riyadh Daily