RIYADH, Dec 19, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait is the most-favored destination for citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states seeking jobs while the Kuwaitis lead the real property owners in the region, a report showed here on Sunday.

The number of GCC citizens working at Kuwaiti private sector companies topped 19,000 while those working at government institutions totaled some 11,000, compared with a total of 37,000 working in the other five GCC countries, according to the report, issued by the GCC Secretariat.

There is a steady increase in the number of workers at GCC private sector companies from 6,279 in 1995 to 21,351 in 2010 while the number of workers at GCC government institutions grew from 9,070 in 2004 to 15,846 last year, it pointed out.

The GCC Supreme Council decided in December, 2004, that each GCC member state should provide insurance protection for its nationals working in another GCC country whether in private or public firms.
As for the real property sector, the report said the number of Kuwaiti owners in the GCC countries topped 4,158 followed by UAE citizens: 2,474, Bahrainis 1,846, Saudis: 1,204, Qataris: 544 and Omanis 431.
The UAE is the most-favored destination for property owners from the GCC, registering 4,604 acquisitions or 43 percent of the total in 2010.

The Sultanate of Oman came in the second place with 4,370 acquisitions or 41 percent, followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 819 or eight percent, while Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar came last.
The report noted that the GCC members are coordinating closely the enrolment of students of each other at their educational institutions.

The GCC members issued 32,000 licenses for investors from each other willing to do business or have equities in shareholding companies.

The emergence of the GCC Customs Union in January, 2003, and the GCC Common Market in January, 2008, have had a positive impact on the volume of bilateral trade among the GCC member states which skyrocketed from $15 billion in 2002 to $20 billion in the following year.

Thanks to the common market, the volume of inter-GCC trade kept growing steadily to top $65 billion in 2010, the report added.