ISDS Case Map
GCC
A free trade agreement between the GCC and the European Free Trade Association could be signed by the end of 2008, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The European Union has delayed signing a free trade agreement with the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council countries because of opposition by a powerful lobby within the EU, a Saudi official was quoted as saying yesterday.
Kuwait's foreign minister says Arab Gulf states are "disappointed" with the slow pace of their negotiations with the European Union on a free trade pact.
FTAs mark a major shift in the policy of GCC countries' foreign trade. They have just signed one with EFTA, concluded talks with Singapore earlier this year and made strides in signing similar deals with China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Further FTA talks are expected to begin soon with Iran and South Korea, while the EU hesitates.
Negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have been finalized, said Secretary General of the GCC Abdulrahaman Al-Atiyya on Saturday, after five rounds of talks.
Discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are expected to make a substantial progress with in a year, according to Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.
India today said talks on the free trade agreement between India and Gulf Cooperation Council are likely to move forward this year.
Human rights issues will be high on the agenda in negotiations between the European Union and the GCC on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a senior official declared in Bahrain last night.
Charles Roxborough, who leads management consultancy McKinsey & Company's global corporate and investment banking practice, estimates that by 2020 sovereign wealth funds, of which some of the richest are located in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region, will have invested a staggering $7000bn in capital markets. “They're reshaping strategies at banks and intermediaries,” he says. He believes that hedge funds, Asian central banks and sovereign wealth funds have tripled their market position since 2000 and now make about 5% of global investments.
The Federation of the GCC Chambers is inviting the European Union and the GCC to speed up signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two blocs.
