Kuwait has officially nominated its finance minister Nayef al-Hajraf for the post of GCC Secretary-General, to succeed Abdul Latif bin Rashid al-Zayani, whose term expires next year.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah announced that Kuwait has officially informed the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries of its nomination.
“We hope that the coming GCC summit would approve al-Hajraf's nomination,” Jarallah told reporters.
The United Arab Emirates is expected to host the 40th Gulf Summit in December.
Hajraf is expected to submit his resignation to the Prime Minister, while reports indicated that Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mariam al-Aqeel will be nominated to replace the finance minister.
Hajraf was recently questioned by the National Assembly. He holds a Ph.D. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Hull, UK, a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a bachelor's degree in accounting from Kuwait University.
He was a Vice President of Gulf University for Science and Technology for Academic Services. He also served as Kuwait’s chief regulator of marketable securities in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and Managing Director of the Kuwait Capital Markets Authority (CMA) from 2014 to 2017.
He has previously served as Kuwait Minister of Finance for a brief period in 2012, and Kuwait Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education from 2012 to 2014.
He was also a member of the First Board of Commissioners of the Capital Markets Authority in 2010, and a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was established on May 25, 1981, during a meeting of Gulf leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah Yacoub Bishara became the first Secretary-General of the GCC, where he assumed the General Secretariat for 11 years, from 1981 to 1993. He was succeeded by Fahim bin Sultan al-Qasimi (UAE) between 1993 – 1996.
In 1996, Jamil Ibrahim al-Hejailan (Saudi Arabia) assumed the sec-gen position and stayed until 2002, and was followed by Abdul Rahman bin Hamad al-Attiyah (Qatar) who served between 2002 and 2011.
Current GCC sec-gen Zayani (Bahrain) assumed his position in 2011 and is expected to step down in 2020.
