Gulf top in human development list

The Gulf's achievements in the area of human development were hailed yesterday by GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al Attiyah.

He said four GCC states occupied prominent positions in the high human development list in the United Nations' Human Development Report. The list includes 70 of 175 states covered by the report.

"That would not have been achieved without the suggestions and decisions of the GCC's leaders," he told the 14th annual conference of the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.

"The suggestions and decisions were translated by all the GCC states and the human development strategy approved by the states followed global developments."

Al Attiyah praised the GCC leaders' suggestions to increase job opportunities for the national workforce and facilitate their movement among the member states.

He underlined the importance of the decision to approve the GCC common market taken by the Supreme Council at the 2007 summit.

And he called on the Gulf states to continue to sustain development to maintain the advantages the GCC has achieved. Kuwait came 33rd in the high human development category of the UN's list, the highest ranking of any Arab state. Qatar was 35th, the UAE 39th and Bahrain 41st.

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