Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), has stressed the great importance of the strategic partnership between the GCC and the United States of America (US) in enhancing maritime security in the region by securing freedom of maritime navigation and the smooth flow of international trade.

This came during his meeting with Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of US Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), US 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces on Thursday, at the GCC headquarters of the General Secretariat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

During the meeting, they discussed a number of issues related to maritime security in the Arabian Gulf region, strengthening the GCC-US cooperation and working with international and regional partners for this purpose, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.

He stressed the importance of this joint work to maintain the security of waterways and maritime navigation, in a way that guarantees freedom of navigation and the free flow of trade to the countries of this region and the entire world.

He further emphasised that the matter of maritime security is a top priority within the framework of the strategic partnership with the US. He further added that this is evidenced by the formation of a specialised working group in 2015, whose members convene regularly to agree on necessary steps to enhance cooperation between the two sides in the field of maritime security.

The importance of this partnership has been underscored by the successive GCC-US summits, including the summit held in July 2022 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the joint ministerial meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the GCC countries and the US in June 2023, which stressed the importance of supporting navigational rights and freedoms as well as collective efforts to address threats to the security of ships using the waterways in the region, he also said.