The UK launched negotiations towards a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on 22 June.
Pre-Covid trade between the UK and the GCC reached £44.6 bn in 2019. The GCC countries also represented the UK’s third largest export market outside the European Union.
A Free Trade agreement has the potential to add significant value to the relationship with the potential for total trade between the UK and GCC to rise by an additional $7 billion by 2035 as a result. Key opportunity sectors which play to the UK’s strengths include technology, life sciences, education, financial & professional services and renewable energy.
An FTA is also an opportunity for GCC businesses and exporters who want to export to and invest in the UK.
Saudi Arabia represented approximately half of total GCC GDP of £1.2 trillion in 2021. SBJBC looks forward to building on the opportunities as the Kingdom opens further to trade and investment and implements its ambitious reform plans.
For more detail on the UK’s Strategic Approach to the UK-GCC Trade Negotiations, please download the recently published report from the Department for International Trade.
