Member of Dutch Parliament Farah Karimi, Senior Adviser at the Netherlands Helsinki Committee Jan ter Laak and Executive Director at the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Dr. Aaron Rhodes visited the center and held a follow-up meeting following GRC’s participation in the Netherlands Helsinki Committee workshop in The Hague. The November 2004 session reviewed the current status of regional cooperation and ways to stimulate discussion among political actors and NGOs in Europe and the Gulf region along the lines of the European experience and Helsinki process.
Françoise Sellier – Chargée de mission of the Secrétariat général de la defense nationale, Office of the Prime Minister, France, responsible for the Gulf region – discussed GRC’s activities, as well as regional developments such as the US policy, US-Iran relations and the Bahrain-US Free Trade Agreement.
James P. Ketterer, Director, Center for International Development, The State University of New York, held discussions about possible cooperation on a Legislative Resource Program.
Austrian Ambassador to the UAE Dr. Gerald Kriechbaum explored the scope for a joint GRC-Austrian embassy plan to promote Austria’s presidency of the European Union and the UAE’s presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 2006.
Ambassador of Italy to the UAE Domenico Pedata discussed the possibility of conducting regular GRC roundtable meetings for resident European Union ambassadors in the UAE and the region.
Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Research and Marketing Company, visited the center. GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager briefed the prince and the accompanying group of editors-in-chief and senior mangers from the Saudi company about the research programs pursued by the center.
Prince Salman expressed his admiration for the progress achieved by the center on the political, economic, defense, security and social issues in the Gulf region, and for the publications released by GRC.
In his exchange with GRC researchers, Prince Salman highlighted the importance of research centers and the role they play in disseminating knowledge and enhancing the awareness of the Arab citizen.
Saudi Ambassador to the United Kingdom Prince Turki Al-Faisal Al-Saud
Alex Younger – First Secretary (Political), British Embassy, Dubai – was briefed about the center’s activities. Areas of possible cooperation between GRC and the embassy were also discussed.
