General Secretary of 'Cooperation': First Ministerial Meeting with Switzerland Marks a New Phase of Partnership

The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jassem Al-Budaiwi, affirmed that the first joint ministerial meeting between the GCC and the Swiss Confederation lays the foundation for a new phase of partnership and opens broader horizons for developing relations between the two sides.

In a speech delivered during the joint ministerial meeting held yesterday evening in New York, chaired by Bahrain’s Foreign Minister, Abdulatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, who holds the current rotating chairmanship of the GCC Ministerial Council, and attended by Swiss Federal Councillor and Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis, along with the foreign ministers of the GCC member states, Al-Budaiwi noted that Gulf-Swiss relations have witnessed significant development this year, marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding to establish a strategic dialogue between the two sides last January. He pointed out that a draft joint action plan is being prepared, covering cooperation in political, cultural, developmental, and humanitarian fields.

On regional issues, Al-Budaiwi highlighted the ballistic missile and drone attacks carried out by Iran and its proxies against GCC member states since February 28, which resulted in human and material losses and targeted critical infrastructure.

He drew attention to the fact that the disruption of international navigation and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have impacted the world through rising energy prices and supply chain disruptions, emphasizing that the security of waterways in the Gulf region is an international, not merely a regional, concern.

He called on Iran to fully comply with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817, to permanently and unconditionally halt attacks, ensure they do not recur, and restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandab to their pre-February 28 levels.

Al-Budaiwi reiterated the centrality of the Palestinian issue and the necessity of ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

Concluding his speech, the Secretary-General expressed his hope that this inaugural ministerial meeting would mark the beginning of a new phase in relations between the GCC and the Swiss Confederation, reflecting a shared commitment to elevating these relations to more ambitious levels.