A conference on the economies of the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is planned for January 2001. The conference, to be held at the Hofuf campus of King Faisal University, will discuss opportunities for the GCC in the 21st century with reference to such aspects as globalization, foreign trade, the World Trade Organization (WTO), information technology, electronic commerce, population structure, and expatriate labor. It will also highlight the capabilities and limitations of the economic sectors of the GCC and the strategic alternatives open to it.

Meanwhile, the Statistics Department at the Ministry of Planning reports that the Kingdom's imports from GCC states were worth almost SR 10 billion [U.S. $ 2.7 billion] in 1999, up from just over SR 9.1 billion [U.S. $ 2.4 billion] in 1998. About one third of these imports are national products of the GCC states, and the rest are goods of foreign origin. Heading the list of exporters is the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

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