International organisations

Title

Purpose and objectives

Title

Purpose

The Colombo Plan is not intended as an integrated master plan to which national plans were expected to conform. It is, instead, a framework for bilateral arrangements involving foreign aid and technical assistance for the economic and social development of the Asia-Pacific region.

Objectives

• To promote interest in and support for the economic and social development of Asia and the Pacific
• To promote technical cooperation and assist in the sharing and transfer of technology among member countries;
• To keep under review relevant information on technical cooperation between the member governments, multilateral and other agencies with a view to accelerating development through cooperative effort;
• To facilitate the transfer and sharing of the developmental experiences among member countries within the region with emphasis on the concept of South–South cooperation.

Organisational Structure

Title

The principal organs of the Colombo Plan are the Consultative Committee, the Council and the Secretariat. Administrative costs of the Council and Secretariat are borne equally by the 27 member countries.

The Consultative Committee (CCM), comprises all member governments and is the highest review and policy making body of the Colombo Plan. Its biennial meetings provide a forum for the exchange of views on current development problems facing member countries and review the work of the Colombo Plan in economic and social development within the region.

The Colombo Plan Council comprises heads of diplomatic missions of member governments who are resident in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Presidency of the Council rotates annually among member countries on an alphabetical basis. The Council meets quarterly to identify important development issues facing members and ensure the smooth implementation of the Consultative Committee's decisions.

The Colombo Plan Secretariat, headed by a Secretary-General is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka, since 1951 and functions as the secretariat for the Consultative Committee and the Council. The Secretariat is responsible for the effective administration and implementation of the programmes of the Colombo Plan, in partnership with member countries and collaborating agencies.

Funding

Title

A special characteristic of the Colombo Plan is that the administrative costs of the Council and the Secretariat are borne equally by all its member countries. However, the training programmes of the Colombo Plan are voluntarily funded by traditional as well as newly emerging donors among its member countries. Developing member countries are also encouraged to meet local currency costs whenever training programmes are held in their respective countries. The Colombo Plan training programmes are also funded by contributions from non-member governments and regional/international organizations.

Programmes

The Colombo Plan has 4 permanent programmes:

• Drug Advisory Programme (DAP)
• Capacity Building Programme
• Gender Affairs Programme (GAP)
• Environment Programme

Title

The Plan Now

Title

Over the years, while adhering to the concept of human resource development and South-South Cooperation in addressing issues of economic and social development, the programme content of the Colombo Plan has been changing to take account of the needs of member countries in a fast changing world economic environment. In the early years, the training programmes were more of a long-term nature, while recent programmes have been focusing on providing advance skills and experience sharing aimed at arriving at the best practices in different fields of economic and social activities as a means of good policy making and governance. The current programmes of the Colombo Plan are in the areas of public policy formulation in an environment of globalisation and market economy, private sector development as a prime mover for growth, drug use and dependence prevention and treatment in member countries and addressing gender issues. The Colombo Plan Staff College for Technician Education located in Manila also provides skill development opportunities for technicians in middle level.

In her 2010 speech, Dato' Patricia Yoon-Moi Chia states: "The current Colombo Plan looks very different since our restructuring and revitalisation in 1995. As we continue to build upon our past successes, the new Colombo Plan uses cooperation among developing member countries or South-south Cooperation between the developed member countries and developing member countries, to underpin all our activities. Since our restructuring in 1995, we have now provided 16,082 scholarships to 23 member countries for both long-term and short-term training programmes."

Founding

Title

The original 2,673,110-square-kilometre union comprised Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The unified economic agreement between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council was signed on 11 November 1981 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. These countries are often referred to as "the GCC states" or "Gulf countries".

Objectives

Objectives include:

• Formulating similar regulations in various fields such as religion, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, and administration.
• Fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources.
• Establishing scientific research centers.
• Setting up joint ventures.
• Unified military (Peninsula Shield Force)
• Encouraging cooperation of the private sector.
• Strengthening ties between their people.

Title

Title

Politics and governance

Title

Supreme Council

The GCC Supreme Council is composed of the heads of the member states. It is the highest decision-making entity of the GCC, setting its vision and goals. Decisions on substantive issues require unanimous approval, while issues on procedural matters require a majority. Each member state has one vote.

Ministerial Council

The Ministerial Council is composed of the Foreign Ministers of all the member states. It convenes every three months. It primarily formulates policies and makes recommendations to promote cooperation and achieve coordination among the member states when implementing ongoing projects. Its decisions are submitted in the form of recommendations for the approval of the Supreme Council. The Ministerial Council is also responsible for preparations of meetings of the Supreme Council and its agenda. The voting procedure in the Ministerial Council is the same as in the Supreme Council.

Secretariat General

The Secretariat is the executive arm of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It takes decisions within its authority and implements decisions approved by the Supreme or Ministerial Council. The Secretariat also compiles studies relating to cooperation, coordination, and planning for common action. It prepares periodical reports regarding the work done by the GCC as a whole and regarding the implementation of its own decisions.

Monetary Council

On 15 December 2009, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia announced the creation of a Monetary Council to introduce a single currency for the union. The board of the council, which set a timetable and action plan for establishing a central bank and choosing a currency regime, met for the first time on 30 March 2010. Kuwaiti foreign minister Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah said on 8 December 2009 that a single currency may take up to ten years to establish. The original target was in 2010. Oman and the UAE later announced their withdrawal from the proposed currency.

In 2014, major moves were taken to ensure the launch of a single currency. Kuwait's finance minister stated that a currency should be implemented without delay. Negotiations with the UAE and Oman to expand the monetary union were renewed.

Politics and governance

Title

Patent Office

The GCC Patent Office was approved in 1992 and established soon after in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Applications are filed and prosecuted in the Arabic language before the GCC Patent Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is a separate office from the Saudi Arabian Patent Office.

Peninsula Shield Force

Amidst the Bahraini uprising, Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent ground troops to Bahrain in order to protect vital infrastructure such as the airport and highway system. Kuwait and Oman refrained from sending troops. Instead, Kuwait sent a navy unit.

The secretary-general of the GCC strongly endorsed the use of international force in Libya. GCC member states joined coalition efforts to enforce the no-fly zone.

In September 2014, GCC members Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Qatar, plus pending member Jordan, commenced air operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, however, are among the nations that oppose the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, whereas Qatar has historically supported it. They also pledged other support including operating training facilities for Syrian rebels (in Saudi Arabia) and allowing the use of their airbases by other countries fighting ISIL.

GCC Standardization Organization (GSO)

This is the standardization organization of the GCC, and Yemen also belongs to this organization.

Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC)

The Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) was founded in 1976 by the six GCC member states; Yemen joined the organization in 2009. It is headquartered at Doha, Qatar. The organization chart of GOIC includes the Board members and the General Secretariat. The Board is formed by member state representatives appointed by their governments.

History

Title

The organization was established on October 3, 2009 by the Nakhchivan Agreement signed among Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey. According to Halil Akıncı, the founding Secretary-General of the organization the "Turkic Council has become the first voluntary alliance of Turkic states in history".

In 2012, the flag of the Turkic Council was adopted.

In late April 2018, it was announced that Uzbekistan is going to join the Turkic Council and attend the upcoming summit of the organisation in Bishkek.

Mission and objectives

Title

The Preamble of the Nakhchivan Agreement reaffirms the will of Member States to adhere to the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and defines the main objective of the Turkic Council

The Nakhchivan Agreement sets out the main purposes and tasks of the Organization as follows:

• Strengthening mutual confidence and friendship among the Parties;
• Developing common positions on foreign policy issues;
• Coordinating actions to combat international terrorism, separatism, extremism and cross-border crimes;
• Promoting effective regional and bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest;
• Creating favorable conditions for trade and investment;
• Aiming for comprehensive and balanced economic growth, social and cultural development;
• Expanding interaction in the fields of science, technology, education, health, culture, sports and tourism;
• Encouraging interaction of mass media and other means of communication;
• Promoting exchange of relevant legal information and enhancing legal cooperation.

Structure and operation

Title

Main organs of the Turkic Council include:

• Council of Heads of State
• Council of Foreign Ministers
• Senior Officials Committee
• Council of Elders (Aksakals)
• The Secretariat

The main decision-making and governing body of the Turkic Council is the Council of Heads of State, which is presided over by the President whose country holds the chairmanship. The chairmanship rotates on an annual basis. All activities of the Turkic Council are coordinated and monitored by its Secretariat, which is located in Istanbul in accordance with the Nakchivan Agreement. Presidents meet once a year in a previously determined Turkic city. Senior officials, Aksakals, as well as other Ministers and government officials, all meet on a regular basis.

Projects

Title

Since its founding agreement defines comprehensive cooperation among Turkic states as the organization's main objective and raison d'être, the Turkic Council is working on a whole variety of projects. The projects are grouped under six cooperation processes, which are: economy, culture, education, transport, customs, and diaspora. Examples of the projects include establishing the Turkic University Union and writing a common history textbook. The Turkic Council also works on ways to boost economic development in underdeveloped regions of Member States. The Secretariat brings together Economy Ministers, Education Ministers, Transport Ministers, Heads of Customs Administrations, and other senior officials from different ministries and agencies in order to work on ways to promote cooperation in relevant spheres. Prior to being brought before ministers and heads of administrations, projects and issues of cooperation are elaborated by working groups. One recently launched project is the establishment of a mechanism for closer cooperation among Turkic diasporas all over the world.

Affiliated bodies and organizations

Title

The Turkic Council functions as an umbrella organization for all other cooperation mechanisms like:

• the Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries (TURKPA) (administrative capital, Baku)
• the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) (administrative capital, Ankara)
• International Turkic Academy (administrative capital, Astana)
• Turkic Cultural Heritage Fund
• Center of Nomadic Civilizations (administrative capital, Bishkek)
• Turkic Business Council (administrative capital, İstanbul)

Summits

Title

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the newly independent Turkic States of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as Turkey organized Summits of the Heads of Turkic Speaking States, the first of which took place in 1992 in Ankara. With the establishment of Turkic Council, at the 10th Summit it was decided to rename the top-level meetings to Turkic Council Summits.

Turkic Council Summit is the highlight of the year whereby Heads of State evaluate outcomes of the past period and set goals for the next year. The First Summit took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 20–21 October 2011 and focused primarily on economic cooperation. The Second Summit was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on 22–23 August 2012 and concentrated on educational, scientific, and cultural cooperation. The Third Summit took place on 15–16 August 2013 in Qabala, Azerbaijan with a theme of transport and connectivity.

On October 15, 2019, the Seventh Turkic Council Summit was organized in Baku with the participation of Presidents of member states Ilham Aliyev, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as Purli Agamyradov as a guest, Viktor Orban as an observer and heads of Turkic cooperation institutions. The participants celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the Turkic Council in addition to Uzbekistan’s joining the organization as a full-fledged member. The title of Honorary Chairman of the Turkic Council was given to the former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. In the conclusion of the Summit, the Heads of States signed Baku Declaration. Besides, the presidency in the Council officially passed to Azerbaijan.

Conclusion

Title

Briefly speaking of the three organizations, the Colombo Plan aims to develop public policies in the context of globalization and a market economy, develop the private sector as the main engine of growth, as well as drug abuse and prevention in member countries.

Next, GCC Development has its roots in the political and economic events that occurred in the wider Middle East region. Activities in recent years are a key factor that has shaped the GCC's efforts towards economic integration.

Thirdly, today the Turkic Council is an authoritative, full-fledged international organization with established institutions and structure. Undoubtedly, effective work in the framework of the summits had a positive impact on strengthening mutually beneficial comprehensive relations between countries within the framework of the Turkic Integration Association and contributed to strengthening the authority of the international organization on the world stage.