Investment soars in GCC states

Industrial investment in Gulf Arab countries jumped by 23.5 percent in 1996 as the states pushed ahead with a drive to diversify their oil-reliant economies, a Gulf official said yesterday.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states had sunk a total of nearly $77.8 billion into non-oil industries by the end of 1996, Said Naser Al Kaud, director of studies and planning at the Riyadh-based GCC Secretariat.