RIYADH: Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Central Asian countries will hold a joint ministerial meeting of the strategic dialogue between the Gulf and Central Asian countries on Wednesday at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The meeting will be headed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who is also the chairman of the current session of the GCC’s Ministerial Council.
GCC Secretary-General Dr. Nayef Al-Hajraf said that the meeting will discuss areas of strengthening strategic relations and joint cooperation between the two sides to achieve stability, security, peace and friendship and serve common interests in the political, economic and cultural fields.
He said that his tour to the Central Asian nations in the first week of August, which witnessed the signing of memorandums of understanding, reflected the great interest in establishing the institutional framework for relations that serve both sides and enhance the prospects for strategic dialogue in light of the presence of many common historical and cultural ties.

He also said the first joint meeting of the strategic dialogue aims to establish a new stage to push relations into broader areas, in implementation of the directives of the leaders of the GCC countries to strengthen and consolidate the bloc’s position regionally and internationally as a model for security, stability and development.
Separately, the GCC’s Ministerial Council will also hold its 153rd session on Wednesday that will be chaired by Prince Faisal in the Saudi capital.
Al-Hajraf said that the council will discuss a number of reports on the implementation of the decisions of the Supreme Council that were issued at the 42nd summit in Riyadh, as well as memoranda and reports and topics related to dialogues and strategic relations between the GCC and countries and global blocs, in addition to the latest regional and international developments.