Arab “EU” Began
جامعة الدول العربية
Jāmaʻat ad-Duwwal al-ʻArabiyya Arab League Flag
Certain Arab nations, while having certain problems of unity, have apparently taken a major step:
The Associated Press June 8, 2009, 8:05AM ET
Gulf states take plunge to monetary union
The signing of a monetary union agreement by just four of the six Gulf Arab states may result in delays for the establishment of a single currency, but the oil-rich region will need to overcome its political infighting to truly achieve its long-elusive goal of economic integration, analysts said Monday.
In a major step toward setting up a Gulf equivalent of the European Union, foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar on Sunday night signed a monetary pact aimed at setting up a central bank and a unified currency.
The move came despite the decision by the United Arab Emirates, the second largest and most diversified of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council’s economies, to withdraw from the plan. Analysts had voiced concerns that the UAE’s pullout would doom the integration plans, but officials in Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy and home to the world’s biggest proven reserves of oil, were determined to push ahead.
“This is a good indication that the remaining states will move ahead,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist with SABB, the HSBC Holdings PLC affiliate formerly known as Saudi British Bank. And, while “there is no doubt that the monetary union will be pushed back a few years” Sfakianakis said this delay should not be interpreted as a setback.
“It must be remembered that the European Monetary Union was a project that was 20 years in the making. Hence we should not conclude that because the date is being pushed back that the currency union will not happen,” he said. “Obstacles and delays are common.”
GCC officials had said they wanted to shift to the common currency by 2010, but that deadline has quickly fallen by the wayside amid logistical problems, including the lack of necessary regional institutions. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat recently quoted an unidentified senior GCC official as saying that the deadline had now been pushed back to 2013. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D98MFT5G0.htm
The Bible tells of a time of the emergence of a powerful leader known as the King of the South. This leader will apparently lead most Arabs Muslims as well as others in their general geographic region.
The agreement yesterday will probably make the rise of this future King easier to take place. Prophetic events continue to line up.
Two articles of possibly related interest may include:
The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? What does the Bible say?
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