The thirty-first meeting of airport security officials and field visits in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), represented by the Ministry of the Interior from 17-19 April, commenced Monday morning at the Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi.
The meeting will discuss a number of issues including the security and safety of airports and passengers in the GCC countries, exchange of experiences, the threats to the security of civil aviation, the exchange of field visits to the airports of developed countries in this field and discuss the report of the Secretariat General of the Gulf Cooperation Council on the achievements made in the previous period.
Brigadier Ali Ateeq bin Lahej, Director General of Airport Security Department of Dubai Police, Head of the UAE Delegation, opened the meeting with a speech in which he stressed the keenness and support of GCC Interior Ministers and their interest in security of ports in general and airport security in particular.
He pointed out the importance of reaching the highest level of coordination and cooperation among all police agencies and exchanging experiences and opinions in the field of civil aviation safety and security to meet the challenges and to ensure enhanced protection of airports and passengers leveraging the joint efforts of airport security officials in the GCC countries.
He said that the country's airports have achieved 99.53 in the 2016 Assessment of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) which selected Dubai Airports, in coordination with the General Authority of Civil Aviation.
He added that this meeting comes as part of a series of meetings of airport security officials in the GCC countries with the aim of supporting the security work at airports in order to achieve positive results for the GCC airports.
Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman Al Dosari, head of the delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Chairman of the meeting, expressed his hope that the meeting will come up with more positive results that enhance cooperation among GCC countries in the field of airport security.
"In this meeting, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to the GCC Ministers of Interior for their unlimited support for all forms of joint cooperation and their efforts to maintain the continuity of this cooperation, which reflects positively on the security and safety aspects in the GCC countries, Al Dosari said.
He thanked the UAE for hospitality and good reception and also thanked the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council for its efforts to make the meeting a success.
Jamal Ayed Al Otaibi, head of the delegation of the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, stressed the importance of strengthening relations between the GCC countries and coordination in all fields, including security of ports and airports. He expressed his hope that the works of the meeting will be successful and reach positive results in the topics on the agenda of the meeting.
He thanked the Ministry of Interior in the UAE for the warm reception and for the outstanding preparation and organization of the meeting.