UK-GCC FTA will open up new doors of economic partnerships, says Minister

TDT | Manama                                               

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Free Trade agreement between the six nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the United Kingdom will open up new doors of economic partnerships, said Zayed R. Alzayani, the Minister of Industry and Commerce.

FTA, the minister, who is current in the UK, said, will open up new doors that will further cement Bahrain’s economic partnership with UK -- a major global investment partner for the Kingdom. The ministry made the statements during a meeting with British Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Their discussions focused on the ongoing negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement between the GCC countries and the UK and the economic benefits this agreement would bring both nations. The UK and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations officially launched negotiations to launch UK-GCC FTA this year.

Britain had said that a deal with the GCC could reduce or remove tariffs on UK food and drink exports to the region, worth 625 million pounds last year, and also benefit financial services. It is the fourth set of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks that Britain has launched this year after India, Canada and Mexico, as London looks to replace continuity deals it struck before it left the European Union’s trading orbit with fresh post-Brexit agreements.

In 2021, total trade between the UK and the GCC was worth 33.1 billion pounds ($40.35 billion), of which 11 billion pounds in trade was with Saudi Arabia. Alzayani and Trevelyan also discussed ways to further develop and increase the volume of bilateral investments during the next phase, highlighting the potential role the private sector can play in achieving this goal. The minister said Bahrain is committed to working with the United Kingdom on advancing bilateral cooperation across all avenues.