Türkiye, GCC agree to launch talks on free trade agreement

ISTANBUL

Türkiye and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have inked what Trade Minister Ömer Bolat hails as a “historic agreement” to launch negotiations on a free trade agreement.

The joint statement signed with GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi will create one of the world's largest free trade areas between Türkiye and the GCC members — including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Oman — with a total value of $2.4 trillion, Bolat said.

"The agreement will liberalize trade in goods and services, facilitate investments and trade and increase Türkiye’s trade with the region and investments in our country from the Gulf Region to much higher levels," Bolat wrote on the social media platform X.

“This new commercial partnership projection is of great importance in terms of reaching a larger share in the global economy with the GCC countries with the win-win principle,” he added.

The joint statement will restart the negotiations which were initially launched in 2005 between Türkiye and the GCC but interrupted in 2010, the minister said.

Türkiye’s trade volume with the GCC member countries, which was $2.1 billion in 2002, increased to $22.7 billion in 2022 and climbed up to $31.4 billion in 2023, according to Bolat.

Turkish contractors have undertaken 856 projects worth $77.5 billion in the GCC member countries to date, the minister noted.

For his part, Albudaiwi emphasized the significance of close cooperation between Türkiye and the GCC countries to enhance economic relations and expressed their mutual desire to expand trade, investment and cooperation.