Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s Commerce Minister Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, who is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, chaired the fourth meeting of the negotiating team for the free trade agreement between GCC countries and the UK.

The meeting, which took place at the authority’s headquarters in Riyadh, aims to prepare for holding the fourth round from the agreement’s negotiations between the two regions during the period from July 17 to 28.

The negotiating round will be divided into two periods, which include remote meetings, and in-person meetings that will be held in London.

The Deputy Governor of the Commission for International Organizations and Agreements Farid Al-Asali reviewed, during the meeting, a summary of the negotiations’ progress.

Al-Asali also discussed with the heads of the negotiating technical teams the terms of the agreement.

The terms of the meeting also included the negotiating technical teams’ topics regarding commodities, rules of origin, investment, services, electronic commerce, general texts and provisions.

It is noteworthy that the negotiating technical teams of Saudi Arabia are working on supervising and following up on the trade negotiations’ progress in order to ensure its compatibility with the Kingdom’s commercial objectives and policies.

Saudi Arabia’s negotiating technical teams are also participating in the trade negotiations to include the Kingdom’s negotiating positions, as well as coordinating with countries who has the same or similar orientations in international trade.