In the run-up to the 6th GECF Summit of Heads of State and Government, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) recently held its Extraordinary Executive Board Meeting via videoconference.
The Meeting enjoyed the participation of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela and was chaired by Ms Penelope Bradshaw-Niles, the Executive Board Member of Trinidad and Tobago.
The main goal of the high-level gathering was to finalise the round of consultations and debates around the inaugural GECF Awards, which seek to recognise and honour the great work on the Forum establishment and advancement, as well as to celebrate the tremendous accomplishments of influential players and game-changers who made a remarkable input to this over two-decade-long journey.
HE Mohamed Hamel, the newly appointed Secretary General of the GECF, welcomed the gathering and expressed his appreciation to his predecessor, HE Yury Sentyurin.
“Just as the GECF was once a concept but now stands proud in reality, so will the GECF Awards symbolise the long way this Forum has come since its inception. The Awards are in fact designed to recognise invidiuals and institutions that have contributed to raising our Forum’s profile or have aided it in achieving its long-term objectives. And that is indeed a cause for celebration” highlighted HE Secretary General.
The proceedings were complemented with discussions on administrative matters pertaining to the GECF Secretariat’s functioning.
The Executive Board is a governing body of the GECF, second only to the supreme authority vested in the Ministerial Meeting. It directs the operational affairs of the Forum, implements the decisions of the Ministerial Meetings, and considers the yearly Programme of Work of the Secretariat for further approval by the Ministerial Meeting, in accordance with the GECF Statute, Long-Term Strategy, and the 5-Year Working Plan.