The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and Japan announce their resumption of free trade agreement negotiations
The General Cooperation Council (GCC) and Japan announced their resumption of the Free Trade Agreement negotiations, by signing a joint statement in this regard on the sidelines of the meeting held by Mr. Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, and His Excellency Mr. Jassem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the GCC, Sunday (July 16, 2023) in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Commenting on this, His Excellency the Secretary General of the GCC said that this announcement comes in implementation of the directives of the Ministerial Council to ink free trade agreements with the trade partners of the GCC countries as part of the priorities that were agreed to accomplish at its session which took place in June 2022, adding that Japan is considered as one of the priorities of the Council Cooperation with which it seeks to bolster their strategic, economic, development and investment relations.
Furthermore, His Excellency the Secretary General expressed the hopes of the GCC member states to consolidate trade and investment ties between the two sides through this agreement, highlighting its role in launching a new era of partnership that is aimed at providing many opportunities for joint growth for the business communities of both sides, especially in priority sectors.
Moreover, His Excellency pointed out that this agreement will pave the way for the development of a comprehensive economic framework based on mutual interests, which, in return, would establish stronger strategic cooperation, promote innovation, stimulate economic growth, and create job opportunities for both sides.
Finally, His Excellency concluded the statement by emphasising the strategic and important bonds between the GCC countries and Japan in all areas, most notably the high level of political coordination, as well as cooperation in the field of energy and trade exchange, indicating that Japan ranked fourth in terms of exports from the GCC countries with a value of $76.7 billion and ranked fourth in terms of imports from the GCC which are valued at $22 billion.
