Falah al-Hajri, Minister of Commerce and Industry was quoted as saying that the exhibition would be a major event for Kuwait and would be another pillar foundation of the GCC bloc.

He said that the exhibition was also part of Kuwait's keenness on transforming Kuwait into a regional financial and commercial center.

The six GCC members, most of them rich in oil and gas, will display their industrial development in the exhibition.

The idea of holding an exhibition of industrial products was initiated in 1983 and became reality in Kuwait the following year.

Founded in 1981, the GCC, grouping Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, has been striving to achieve wide-ranging economic cooperation.