RIYADH — Ministers of Commerce of the Gulf Cooperation Council states held an extraordinary meeting via video conference to discuss the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The meeting underlined the role of the commerce ministries in ensuring the availability of basic and necessary commodities for citizens and residents of the Gulf states.

The ministers also discussed the ways to support the private sector and enable it to play its role in supporting the economy under the current exceptional circumstances and assess the impact of the precautionary and preventive measures taken by the GCC countries to combat the pandemic.

The virtual meeting was chaired by Sultan Bin Saeed Al-Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates and was also attended Dr. Naif bin Falah Al-Hajraf, the secretary-general of the GCC.

During the meeting, the ministers reviewed the recommendations put forward by the undersecretaries of the ministries of commerce, especially the importance of cooperation in ensuring the flow of basic goods and services to citizens and residents in the GCC states on a regular basis.

They also reviewed urgent initiatives undertaken by the GCC countries to support the private sector, especially small and medium enterprises, and the economic activities affected by this epidemic.

The ministers discussed ways to ensure that the precautionary measures taken by the GCC states to limit the spread of the Corona virus do not affect the flow of goods. They stressed the importance of keeping airports, ports and land ports open for the movement of goods.

They approved the formation of a working group from the ministries of commerce to coordinate in solving, following up and overcoming any obstacles in flow of goods among the GCC countries. —