King Fahd's heir apparent crown prince Abdullah rang the alarm bells at the six Gulf Arab oil producers' annual summit. Pulling no punches, he said it was time to do something about low prices and call the difficult market conditions by their real name -- crisis.

"It is useful for us, governments and people, to remind ourselves that the boom days are gone and will not come back," he told monarchs, emirs and princes from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arabirates meeting under the auspices of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Appealing for an increased private sector role in Gulf economies, he said people in the region "must get used to a new way of life that is not based on total dependence on the state."

Prince Abdullah said the commitment of governments to meet the basic needs of their citizens was solid and permanent, "but we cannot overcomethe economic crisis if the government's commitment was not accompanied by a trend to develop the talents of the individual to become more able to compete, produce and adapt to developments.

"The only way to survive the jungle of competing economic interests is to set up a strong, unified Gulf economy that can compete with the big economic blocks. We should always remember that the Gulf citizen has a right to wonder what is standing in the way of a common Gulf market..."

He suggested a maximum deadline of one year to complete work for a customs Union as a step towards a common market.

The GCC countries have been trying to hammer out an accord on customs Union since 1983. But differences over some products, like steel and petrochemicals, have blocked agreement.

A customs accord, leading eventually to a common market, is vital to forge free trade deals with other trading blocs, mainly the GCC's major trading partner, the European Union, and to open markets to cheap Gulf petrochemicals.

Prince Abdullah,whose role in the day-to-day running of the world's largest oil producer and exporter has increased since King Fahd fell ill three years ago, urged action to stop the slide in world oil prices now languishing around 22-year lows on an annual average basis.

The kingdom, which is the dominant force in the 11-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), played a key role in securing two rounds of production cuts by both Opec and non-Opec producers this year that have withdrawn 3.1 million barrels from daily market supply but failed to stop the rot.

But at Opec's latest meeting in Vienna last month, the cartel failed to do anything further to improve prices and fell to bickering among member states.

"Although we have taken serious measures...we should not hesitate in taking any other measure dictated by (our) interest if the previous ones did not lead to the desired results," the Saudi crown prince said.