ISDS Case Map
Oman
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday proposed that Pakistan and Oman should sign Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to further expand their economic ties and this would be Pakistan's first FTA with a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country.
The Bush administration is pushing a spate of free trade agreements with its allies in the Middle East that mostly lack input from marginalised local communities or civil society groups.
The United States signed a free-trade agreement on Thursday with Oman, a moderate Gulf state and ally in the US war on terrorism, while keeping trade talks with Egypt on hold amid concerns over its commitment to democracy.
A free-trade agreement between the Sultanate and the United States will be signed next Thursday, said Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan, commerce and industry minister, yesterday.
Even though Oman is a relatively small market for US agricultural exports, several factors make it an attractive export market for the United States, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The immediate effect of the free-trade agreements would help unleash the economic potential of both the US and Oman, a top US official said yesterday.
General Motors, the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, applauds the successful conclusion of negotiations to create a US-Oman Free Trade Agreement.
"Entering into an FTA with Oman will build on the FTAs that we already have with Israel, Jordan, and Morocco, as well as the FTA that we have concluded with Bahrain, and will be an important step on the path to fulfilling my vision of developing economic growth and democracy in the Middle East and creating a US Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA) by 2013."
Oman came to the closing stages of its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the US on October 3, after talks on the final details closed successfully. Omani and US officials say the final signing should now take place early in 2006.
The new ministers installed in Bahrain's latest cabinet reshuffle inherit positions in a country that is currently breaking Arab world records in a number of sectors. With the country ahead in attracting foreign investment, it is also moving forwards in signing foreign trade pacts, as debates in the US appeared to move Bahrain closer still to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
