Muscat: All natural and legal citizens in the GCC countries are treated the same as citizens without discrimination or differentiation in all economic fields.
Over the past years, many achievements have been made in the ten tracks of the Gulf Common Market, which are represented in movement and residence, work in the civil and government sectors, social insurance and retirement, practicing professions and crafts, engaging in all economic, investment and service activities, owning real estate, transferring capital and tax treatment, trading and buying shares, establishing companies, and benefiting from educational, health and social services.
Data issued by the GCC Statistical Center indicated that 36.5 million citizens of the GCC countries moved between the member states by the end of 2023, an increase of 154 percent compared to 2007.
The number of GCC citizens is 11, 2 00 in the government sector and 21,200 citizens in the private sector.
As for the social insurance and retirement track, the number of GCC citizens in other member states covered by the retirement system reached about 16,800, with a growth rate of 311.4 percent compared to 2007.
The number of GCC citizens in other member states covered by the social insurance system reached 17,900 citizens, with a growth rate of 347.9 percent.
As for practicing economic, investment, and service activities, 81,200 licenses were granted to citizens of the GCC countries to practice economic activities in other member states (cumulative), with a growth rate of 455.6 percent compared to 2007, and 29 Gulf commercial banks are authorized to operate in the member states, with a growth rate of 61.1 percent compared to 2007, and the volume of environmental trade of the GCC countries reached US131.6 billion measured by the value of inter-exports, with a growth rate of 67 percent compared to 2012.
Statistics showed that there were about 8,700 cases of real estate ownership by GCC citizens in other member states, with a growth rate of 25.7 percent compared to 2007.
The data on the track of trading and purchasing shares and establishing companies showed that the number of shareholders in public joint-stock companies whose shares are permitted to be traded by citizens of GCC countries in other member states amounted to 522,200 who own shares in 737 public joint-stock companies whose shares are permitted to be traded by citizens of GCC countries, an increase of 28.4 percent compared to 2007, and their capital amounted to about $4.5 billion, a growth rate of 226.9 percent compared to 2007.
The number of GCC citizens' students studying in government schools in other member states is 39,500, a growth rate of 1.3 percent compared to 2006/2007.
The number of students of GCC citizens studying in government higher education institutions in other member states is 12.800, with a growth rate of 375.1 percent.
204,300 citizens from the GCC countries received health services in government hospitals and health clinics in other member states.
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