Promising Start to FTA with Gulf Cooperation Council

Australian Government Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, announced today that Australia will begin formal Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) next week.

The GCC is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Mr Truss said he was confident that both Australia and the GCC had the political will to conclude a comprehensive FTA quickly.

The FTA negotiations will begin in Canberra from 30 July to 1 August.

“The first round agenda is comprehensive and focuses on outcomes across all sectors, including draft text of a possible agreement,” Mr Truss said.

“I expect that ambitious market access offers will be tabled on goods and services during this round. Good progress has already been made since the Australian Government’s decision in December 2006 to proceed with FTA negotiations with the GCC,” he said.

Negotiating teams met in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia in May this year for preparatory talks where much of the first round programme was agreed.

In-principle agreement was also reached on scheduling a further round of negotiations towards the end of the year, with the potential for completion of the FTA over the course of 2008.

Mr Truss said that GCC member states have been important markets for Australia.

“As the GCC seeks greater engagement with the global economy, it is important that we establish a framework to sustain the future growth of our commercial relationship,” he said.

Australian exports of goods and services to the GCC were worth $5.9 billion in 2006, making it our tenth-largest export market.

The GCC market is crucial to the Australian motor vehicle industry and its importance is increasing for a range of agricultural, metals and services exports.

Media Inquiries: Minister Truss' office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555