GAFT Heads Saudi Team at GCC-Türkiye Free Trade Negotiations

The General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT) — represented by GAFT Deputy Governor for International Organizations and Agreements and head of the Saudi negotiating team Farid bin Saeed Al-Asali — led the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the first round of negotiations of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Türkiye, held in Ankara July 29 to 31.

The Saudi negotiating team is working to supervise and follow up on the progress of trade negotiations to ensure their compatibility with the Kingdom’s trade objectives and policies, participate in trade negotiations to represent the Kingdom’s negotiating positions, and to coordinate with countries with similar orientations in international trade.

The Saudi negotiating team consists of 8 technical groups — goods, services, investment, general texts and provisions, e-commerce, intellectual property, government procurement, and rules of origin. These groups, which include 45 government agencies, work to prepare and coordinate the Kingdom’s negotiating positions, initiatives, and proposals in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and FTAs, and submit the necessary reports to the Saudi negotiating team in this regard.

The volume of trade between Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in 2023 amounted to about USD 7 billion, as plastics and their products and metal products were the most prominent Saudi exported goods, while machinery, mechanical tools and their spare parts, and carpets were the most prominent Turkish goods imported by the Kingdom.

The GAFT works to enhance the Kingdom’s international trade gains, increase the size of its international presence and effective participation in international organizations, and ensure the achievement of common goals and sustainable development.