ALBAWABA - Bahrain's Ambassador to the UK Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa on Thursday said that the official ongoing talks by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on the Free Trade Agreement with the United Kingdom would be mutually beneficial economically.
"There is no doubt that the trade exchange between Bahrain and the United Kingdom is constantly increasing," he said.
"We expect the rate of trade exchange between the United Kingdom and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to increase in the first year by 15% and by 30% in the following year. We are on the verge of a new era of openness in the trade exchange, and we hope that commercial and industrial institutions in Bahrain will contribute their views and ideas to ensure trade benefits for all," Shaikh Fawaz told Bahrain News Agency (BNA).
The agreement is expected to be off and running by the summer of 2023.
The ambassador said that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak praised the historic relations with the GCC countries and the shared interest in the free trade agreement during the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Summit.
Pre-Covid trade between the UK and the GCC reached £44.6 billion in 2019. The GCC countries also represented the UK’s third largest export market outside the European Union, with Saudi Arabia became the largest market for British exports to the Gulf region after the Covid pandemic.
Britain's Trade Commissioner for the Middle East Simon Penney last week affirmed the UK's commitment to achieving a free trade agreement with the GCC at the nearest possible opportunity
