Gulf Cooperation Council

Oil-exporting Arab states of the Gulf are heading "in the right direction" to plug budgetary gaps thanks to fiscal reforms, but more change is still necessary, the International Monetary Fund said on May 2.

Trade will be at the forefront of many leaders’ minds this quarter as a new U.S. administration settles into the White House. Though U.S. President Donald Trump continues to be bogged down by congressional battles and allegations of inappropriate ties to Russia, his team will try to draw the public’s attention back to its trade agenda.

In an exclusive interview with Al Arabiya’s sister channel Al-Hadath in Dubai on Monday, the UN Secretary General said a political solution to the Syrian crisis would lead to the end of ISIS.

Antonio Guterres said that the Syrian crisis was the hardest test of the United Nations’ impact on the world and that he sees no end to the refugee crisis in the immediate future.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Jan. 24 called for boosting security cooperation with the Gulf states as the Western military alliance opened its first office in the region.

U.S.-based multinational alternative investment company National Standard Finance (NSF) will connect Turkey to a $2 trillion funding network that is set to bring in more foreign direct investment and help boost the economy, CEO Russell A. Duke has told Anadolu Agency.

Low economic growth, weak consumer and business confidence, and foreign exchange volatility will keep the overall outlook for Turkish, Middle Eastern and South African non-financial corporates in 2017 negative, Moody's Investors Service said in a report on Dec. 15. However, some investment grade rated companies, including some in Turkey, will remain resilient, it added. 

Turkish desserts and food company Mado has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Venture Capital Bank (VCBank) and Al Sraiya Holding to extend into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. 

The formation of a new government by Yemen's armed Houthi movement and its political allies will hinder peace efforts in the country, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen said on Nov. 29. 

The move, reported by the Houthi-run state news agency on Nov. 28, has been seen as a blow to U.N.-backed efforts to end 20 months of war in Yemen. 

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Oct. 19 listed the movement of U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, believed to be behind Turkey's July 15 coup attempt, as a terrorist organization, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said.

Three wanted members of the Gülen movement, believed to be behind Turkey's July 15 coup attempt, were deported from Malaysia on Oct. 13, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Oct. 14.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a hospital in Antalya, Çavuşoğlu said Malaysia sent back to Turkey three members of the group who took refuge in the country.