GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed
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GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

GCCIA Announces: 30% of GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is Completed

The GCC-Iraq Electrical Interconnection Project is 30 percent completed, announced CEO of the Gulf Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) Ahmed al-Ebrahim.

Ebrahim indicated that the project is taking place according to the specific timetable ending by 2024.

He said during the celebration organized by the Authority in Dammam celebrating the occasion of World Quality Week that the GCCIA was keen to apply the highest quality standards in the electrical interconnection project with Iraq.

The Authority developed an integrated program to monitor the quality of the electrical interconnection project with Iraq, said Ebrahim.

He stressed that the Authority is keen to connect with external systems to benefit from surplus energy during the winter, pointing out that the countries targeted for energy export are Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt through cooperation with the Saudi Electricity Company and the rest of the Gulf networks.

The winter season is an opportunity for regular maintenance to ensure quality performance, said Ebrahim.

The World Quality Week aims to spread the culture of good quality worldwide and encourage individuals and establishments to apply its concepts, benefiting individuals, societies, and the world, according to the official.

He indicated that Quality Week is an opportunity for those interested in quality to celebrate their achievements and increase awareness to benefit from it.

The World Quality Week 2023 represents an opportunity to shed light on individuals, work teams, and establishments that invest in creating and improving customer value.

The CEO stressed that establishments that focus on customers and promote a culture of achieving customer value through innovation and product improvement, explaining that enhancing a culture of quality helps to recognize that the customer, not the establishment, better defines the quality of the product.

It promotes customer participation in improving the quality of products and services and cooperates with customers to enhance the quality of the product and service and solve any problems.

The success of the global economy depends on quality, creativity, and sustainability, said Ebrahim, noting that World Quality Week was an opportunity to reinforce these foundations.



China Retaliates to EU Ban with Import Restrictions on Medical Devices

People walk along Qianmen promenade in Beijing on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Adek BERRY / AFP)
People walk along Qianmen promenade in Beijing on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Adek BERRY / AFP)
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China Retaliates to EU Ban with Import Restrictions on Medical Devices

People walk along Qianmen promenade in Beijing on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Adek BERRY / AFP)
People walk along Qianmen promenade in Beijing on July 5, 2025. (Photo by Adek BERRY / AFP)

China's finance ministry said on Sunday it was restricting government purchases of medical devices from the European Union that exceed 45 million yuan ($6.3 million) in value, in retaliation to Brussels' own curbs last month.

Tensions between Beijing and Brussels have been rising, with the European Union imposing tariffs on China-built electric vehicles and Beijing slapping duties on imported brandy from the bloc.

The European Union said last month it was barring Chinese companies from participating in EU public tenders for medical devices worth 60 billion euros ($70 billion) or more per year after concluding that EU firms were not given fair access in China.

The measure announced by the European Commission was the first under the EU's International Procurement Instrument, which entered into force in 2022 and is designed to ensure reciprocal market access.

China's countermeasures were expected after its commerce ministry flagged "necessary steps" against the EU move late last month.

"Regrettably, despite China's goodwill and sincerity, the EU has insisted on going its own way, taking restrictive measures and building new protectionist barriers," Reuters quoted the commerce ministry as saying in a separate statement on Sunday.

"Therefore, China has no choice but to adopt reciprocal restrictive measures."
The EU delegation office in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China will also restrict imports of medical devices from other countries that contain EU-made components worth more than 50% of the contract value, the finance ministry said. The measures come into force on Sunday.

The commerce ministry said products from European companies in China were not affected.

The world's second- and third-largest economies are due to hold a leaders' summit in China later in July.