Bahrain, KSA most visited GCC countries

Riyadh, Dec. 8 (BNA): A report compiled by the information sector in the Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has shown significant increase in the number of GCC citizens who have moved between member states during 2014, reaching 19 millions. The Kingdom of Bahrain, according to the report issued on Monday, has received the largest number of GCC citizens amounting to 6.6 million, followed by Saudi Arabia with more than 6.1 million citizens and Kuwait with 2.9 million, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). The number of GCC nationals who have entered the State of Qatar amounted to more than 1.1 million, while Oman received 581,000. The report made no mention about the number of GCC nationals who entered the United Arab Emirates. The report emphasized that GCC citizens enjoy equal treatment in terms of residence and movement between GCC member states via the smart card, indicating that facilitation of the movement of citizens between the member states has been given priority by the GCC states for the sake of promoting social cohesion as well as being a core aspect to achieve the Gulf common market requirements, KUNA reported.