Doha, May 26 (QNA) - Relations between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have witnessed a significant boom in recent years in various fields, particularly in the fields of education, science, and trade. This has made ASEAN and China among the most prominent strategic partners of the GCC countries.

In this context, the summit between leaders of the GCC, ASEAN, and China, scheduled to be hosted in Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, on May 26 and 27, will strengthen strategic cooperation and push it to broader horizons. This will contribute to achieving sustainable development goals, enhance investment relations, and increase trade exchange, and thereby serving the common interests of these countries and benefit their peoples.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which comprises 10 countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia, are working to promote mutual trade and investment, with China as key partner for both sides. This partnership will open new horizons for strengthening the role of the GCC and ASEAN as effective regional powers that contribute to shaping a more stable and prosperous global order.

This summit comes approximately two years after the GCC-ASEAN Summit held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in October 2023. The final joint statement announced 42 items of cooperation in various fields, and outlined a roadmap for strategic cooperation for the period 2024-2028, in addition to exploring cooperation on implementing the initiative plan for ASEAN Integration (2021-2025) and integration programs in the GCC countries. It also focused on knowledge exchange, institutional capacity building, technical assistance, technology transfer, and enhancing the competitiveness of the two regions to achieve and promote regional integration goals.

The GCC-ASEAN trade exchange has witnessed significant growth in recent years, reaching US$137 billion in 2022, with the volume of trade with the ASEAN countries accounting for 8 percent of the total trade volume of the GCC countries.

On a global level, exports to ASEAN countries accounted for 9 percent of the total exports of the GCC countries to the world, while imports from ASEAN countries accounted for 6 percent of the total imports of the GCC countries from the world.

In parallel with that, GCC countries' investments in ASEAN countries accounted for 4 percent of total foreign investments, amounting to US$75 billion in 2022, while ASEAN countries' investments accounted for 3.4 percent of total foreign direct investments to GCC countries, amounting to US$24.8 billion.

The GCC and the ASEAN represent two prominent global economic blocs. ASEAN's combined GDP is approximately US$ 3.6 trillion, positioning it to become the fourth largest global economy by 2030. Meanwhile, the GCC countries have a combined GDP of approximately US$ 2.3 trillion, making them ideal partners for ASEAN in enhancing economic cooperation. Trade between the two blocs has exceeded US$ 100 billion in recent years.

On the other hand, ASEAN is China's largest trading partner, with Chinese economic data showing that the total value of trade between the two sides reaching US$ 234 billion in the first quarter of 2025. China is also the largest trading partner of the GCC countries, with total trade in goods between the GCC countries and China reaching nearly US$ 298 billion in 2023. The GCC countries accounted for 36 percent of China's total crude oil imports that year.

China plays a significant role in strengthening relations between the GCC and the ASEAN through the Belt and Road Initiative, which has supported massive infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. China also has significant investments in the renewable energy sector in the GCC countries. 

Economic data from the GCC countries in recent years indicates an acceleration in their foreign direct investment (FDI) in the ASEAN countries, shaping future relations in the economic, food security, technology, and other sectors.

The GCC countries in general, and the State of Qatar in particular, are keen to strengthen and consolidate their cooperative relations with ASEAN countries. In this context, Qatar's relations with ASEAN countries have grown steadily in recent years, with total trade between the two sides reaching approximately US$9 billion annually. Qatar has numerous investments in the financial, energy, real estate, telecommunications, agribusiness, hospitality, medicine, and other sectors.

Qatari investments in Singapore are estimated at approximately US$3 billion, with most of these investments concentrated in the energy, financial, insurance, and real estate sectors. Amid the growth in energy trade in the region, Qatar Energy has established a liaison office in Thailand, strengthening its presence and enhancing cooperation within the regional market. Major Qatari groups and companies are also present in Indonesia, the Philippines, and several ASEAN countries as part of efforts to strengthen investment relations between Qatar and these countries.

Among investment projects in the energy sector, Qatar invested approximately $5 billion in the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex in Johor, Malaysia. In 2013, Qatar also signed a project that allows Malaysia to compete with Singapore to become a regional hub for the petroleum industry in Southeast Asia.

For their part, a number of ASEAN member states play a vital role in supporting Qatar's efforts in the field of food security to achieve its National Vision 2030. The ASEAN-GCC Cooperation Framework (2024-2028) also provides a path to enhance cooperation in various fields such as renewable energy, climate change, sustainable development, agribusiness, education, the financial sector, information and communications technology, sports, transportation, tourism and hospitality.

At the Gulf level, economic data indicates that the volume of investments of the GCC countries in ASEAN countries amounted to approximately US$13.4 billion between January 2016 and September 2021. Singapore, an ASEAN member, has a free trade agreement with the GCC countries dating back to 2008, covering approximately 99 percent of Singapore's domestic goods. Two separate free trade agreements between Malaysia and Indonesia with the GCC countries are still under proposal.

The GCC countries are keen to boost their investments in ASEAN, while the ASEAN countries are seeking to increase their imports from the GCC. Within this framework, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is investing in the Southeast Asian energy sector through a joint oil refinery project in Vietnam, in addition to a partnership with Indonesia's Pertamina to develop an oil refinery complex in East Java, Indonesia. Saudi Aramco also announced a US$7 billion investment with PETRONAS in Malaysia in 2017, representing the Saudi company's largest investment outside the Kingdom. In 2013, the UAE signed a US$ 6.57 billion agreement to establish an oil storage facility with a capacity of up to 40 million barrels of crude oil in the Malaysian state of Johor, making it one of the largest investors in the ASEAN region.

International and regional circles, as well as citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and China, are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. There are hopes for enhanced strategic cooperation and increased trade between the two major blocs and China, particularly in light of the economic challenges and changes in the region and the world. (QNA)