Second Gas Summit of Heads of States and Governments of GECF Member Countries
Chaired by Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, the Second Gas Summit of Heads of States and Governments of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Member Countries will take place in Moscow on July 1, 2013.
Taking part in the Summit will be heads of states, governments and delegations from thirteen Forum Member Countries: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, as well as four countries acting as Observer Members: Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Norway.
Viktor Zubkov, Special Representative of the Russian Federation President to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors and Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee are to take part in the Summit.
The representatives of major international energy organizations, including members of the International Energy Forum and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are also invited to the meeting.
As part of the event the participants will share their opinions on the key issues of the global gas industry, paying special attention to the growing role of natural gas as an eco-friendly energy carrier required for sustainable development of the global economy.
The Summit is to result in signing a Declaration setting forth the main priorities of gas exporting countries in the international gas arena as well as the international energy policy.
First Gas Summit of Heads of States and Governments of GECF Member Countries
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was established in 2001 in Teheran. At the 7th Ministerial Meeting hosted by Moscow in December 2008 the Forum was assigned the legal status of an international organization headquartered in Doha (Qatar). The Forum is mainly aimed at protecting the interests of natural gas exporting countries and asserting their sovereign rights over their natural gas resources to be used for the benefit of their states.
In December 2009 Leonid Bokhanovsky, the representative of the Russian Federation was elected Secretary General of the Forum. Today the Member Countries of the Forum are Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Norway have the status of Observer Members.