Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT) led the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the first round of negotiations of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Turkey, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The first round took place in Ankara from July 29 to 31 with the participation of GAFT Deputy Governor for International Organizations and Agreements and head of the Saudi negotiating team Farid bin Saeed Al-Asali.
Saudi Arabia’s negotiating team is currently following up on the progress of trade negotiations to ensure that the agreement is in line with the Kingdom’s trade objectives and policies.
Furthermore, the team is committed to stressing the Kingdom’s negotiating instance and coordinating with countries that have similar orientations in international trade.
The Kingdom’s team consists of 8 technical groups:
1-Goods
2-Services
3-Investment
4-General texts and provisions
5-E-commerce
6-Intellectual property
7-Government procurement
8-Rules of origin
These groups include 45 government agencies and do the following tasks:
- Preparing and coordinating the Kingdom’s negotiating instances, initiatives and proposals in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and FTAs
- Submitting the necessary reports and papers
The trade exchange between Saudi Arabia and Turkey increased to USD 7 billion in 2023. Plastics and metal products the most were the most prominent Saudi exported goods, while mechanical tools and their spare parts, and carpets were the most prominent Turkish goods imported by Saudi Arabia.
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