Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined Arab leaders for yesterday’s Gulf Cooperation Council meeting in Doha, the latest sign of warming ties between Turkey and our corner of the woods.

The big outcomes of the gathering, according to a a joint communique issued afterward:

#1- The summit renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and cheered Qatar, Egypt, and the United States for a ceasefire agreement brokered last week.

#2- Condemnation of Israel: GCC member states plus Turkey again condemned Israel’s war on Gaza and denounced recent statements by several Israeli politicians as racist and extremist. The summit also condemned the Israeli government’s arming of West Bank settlers.

#3- The council condemned Israel’s bid to assert sovereignty over East Jerusalem.

#4- Work in progress projects:

  • Unified tourist visa: Member states are still working on polishing a Shengen-style unified tourist visa that would allow tourists to enter the six member states using a single unified visa starting sometime between in 2024 or 2025;
  • Transforming into a union: There’s ongoing efforts to transition the GCC from just a cooperation bloc to a political union as agreed 12 years ago.

The UAE and Vietnam will cooperate on labor issues after Human Resources and Emiratisation Minister Abdulrahman Al Awar and Vietnamese Labor Minister Dao Ngoc Dung signed an MoU yesterday, according to WAM. The agreement will support study exchanges and promote recruitment of trained Vietnamese workers in the UAE job market, compliant with labor regulations.

ICYMI: The two countries met on Monday to discuss boosting PPPs to increase trade and investment flows in Dubai. AD Ports and the Vietnamese Transport Ministry also previously signed an MoU to push commercial expansion in various logistics-related sectors.

More UAE x Vietnam to come: The pair are currently finalizing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), reports WAM.

The General Civil Aviation Authority inked an agreement with the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau to strengthen cooperation in the aviation sector, reports WAM. The MoU expands operations for national carriers in Tokyo, fostering bilateral trade and tourism relations.

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