MUSCAT: The expanding digital cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council states and China could create 600,000 technology-related jobs in the GCC by 2030, adding $255 billion to the regional GDP, according to a recent report said.

The report, published by the Eurasia Review network, indicated that the joint development of telecommunications, smart cities, artificial intelligence and technology-oriented business is a complementary endeavor to China and the CGCC states that constitute the technological arm of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The report ‘Gulf countries heading towards digital cooperation with China’, said China plays a pivotal role in helping Middle Eastern countries transform their economies and get rid of their dependence on oil, and the free trade agreement – if reached – includes facilitating trade, services and investment, including It helps the two sides to expand cooperation in emerging areas such as the digital economy, new energy and artificial intelligence.

“The Chinese digital economy has become an important part of the relations between China and the Gulf states – the Sultanate of Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – on the background that it is among the most vibrant economies in the world, ranking second globally in 2021 with a value of $7.1 trillion,” it says.

“The energy sector remains the largest recipient of Chinese investment in most of the Gulf countries, as China’s imports of crude oil come from only nine countries in the Middle East, noting that Beijing’s imports of oil and gas, and investment in infrastructure, give it a strong regional influence.”

The report indicated that the rise of digital technologies over the past decade has led the Gulf countries to diversify their economies by developing financial sectors and knowledge-based industries. This means that digital cooperation between China and the Gulf states could change the rules of the regional game in the region.

He pointed out that it is in China’s own interest to make international blocs give weight to it, and indeed one of the goals of the Silk Road project, for example, is this goal. And because the Gulf countries are among the main exporters in the oil and gas market, this will push China to offer temptations with its enormous solvency in industry and trade, especially in the technology sector, to adopt Beijing as an important decision capital, a new mediator and a different player that can benefit from it.