GCC, Republic of Korea conclude 5th round of FTA negotiations

June 10, 2022

BUSINESS REPORTER

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Republic of Korea concluded their 5th round of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) in the Saudi capital on Thursday.

The two sides launched their negotiations on June 6, during which they dealt with many topics aimed at increasing the flow of intra-trade, enhancing investments between the two sides, and opening global markets in front of the exports of the GCC member states.

General Coordinator of Negotiations and Head of the GCC Negotiating Team, Abdurrahman bin Ahmed al Harbi stated that such agreements come in implementation of the directives of the leaders of GCC member states towards strengthening the position of the GCC and supporting its strategic relations with its partners around the world.

He said that the agreement, which is under negotiation right now will contribute to enhancing common gains, stimulating economic, commercial and investment growth in the GCC countries, supporting entrepreneurship and strengthening the business sectors in the GCC countries.

Lee Kyung-sik, Chief FTA Negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), led the South Korean delegation in the 5th round of the Korea-GCC FTA negotiations held through June 6-9 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 4th round of negotiations were held in March this year after a 13-year hiatus, where the two sides discussed their respective areas of interest. In the 5th round, talks covered products, services, investment, e-commerce, customs clearance, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS), technical barriers to trade (TBT) and SMEs collaboration.

The GCC is one of South Korea’s key trading partners in energy, resources and construction. With a population of 5.9 million and GDP per capita of $24,000, in addition to the region’s industrial diversification initiative, a great level of bilateral cooperation can be expected.

Some of the key points for this 5th round include open access to each other’s markets of interest, Korea’s construction and plant market penetration measures, information and communications technology (ICT), energy and establishing a collaboration framework for stronger multifaceted cooperation.

Leading up to this round, MOTIE had gathered opinions of various stakeholders across different industries, fields of expertise and public institutions, and incorporated them into its negotiations strategy. Locally operating Korean businesses and public institution personnel met up with MOTIE officials to exchange views on June 5. (Agencies)