During the 12th Ministerial Meeting held in June in Cairo, the Ministers emphasized the importance of dialogue between producers and consumers for the purpose of achieving a stable gas market; the timeliness of a mechanism to achieve balanced and fair gas prices for both parties, and the necessary cooperation between producers and consumers to support and sustain the required investments to develop the gas reserves in the producing countries and exchange of know-how and technologies in that regard, at the same time taking into account that meeting local demand for natural gas in the producing countries is a priority.

The Ministerial Meeting recognized the growing consolidation of the organisation and its importance as a space for the exchange of views and coordination and, considering the short-term gas market developments and the challenges facing the natural gas industry, as well as the current economic and political world scenarios, underlined the role of the GECF as a factor of stability and cooperation among Member Countries of the Forum and consumer countries. The Ministers stressed the importance of long-term contracts and fair pricing for natural gas, at levels reflecting market fundamentals and parity with oil prices.