	gulf arab ministers discuss economic cooperation finance and economy ministers of the gulf cooperation council gcc opened a two day meeting to discuss further economic integration officials said they said issues to be discussed by the ministers from bahrain kuwait oman qatar saudi arabia and the united arab emirates uae would include a recommendation by central bank governors on a common currency exchange rate the governors agreed in january on a denominator on which to base currencies of the six states any decision will be forwarded for final approval to a gcc summit meeting due in saudi arabia late this year the six states have different currency systems saudi arabia bahrain qatar and the uae are linked in theory to the international monetary fund s basket of currencies the special drawing right sdr but in practice to the dollar oman links its currency formally to the dollar while kuwait pegs its dinar to a trade weighted basket devised by itself the denominator chosen by central bank governors has not been disclosed but some bankers expect the currencies to be linked to the sdr or a trade weighted basket opening the meeting ahmed al tayer the uae s minister of state for finance and industry said implementation of joint economic agreements is increasingly linking the interests of gcc citizens together the general assembly of the gulf investment corporation met in abu dhabi earlier under the chairmanship of bahrain s finance and national economy minister ibrahim abdul karim the corporation was formed to contribute to joint economic and investment projects in the gcc officials said the corporation s assets rose to billion dollars last year from billion at the end of reuter 
