Five years after its ink, the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States – Liechtenstein, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland – and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait , Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, became into operation. Apart from their agreements with the European Union, the EFTA States have 25 FTAs with sum of 35 partner countries worldwide.
The deal also enhances market access and legal certainty, and provides EFTA states with greater access to public tenders. Industrial and fish products are to benefit from duty-free access to the markets of all parties, with some adjusting periods and exceptions applying on the GCC side.
Since the signing of the FTA, two-way merchandise trade between the EFTA and the GCC countries has increased by an annual average of 9%, reaching a value of USD9.2bn in 2013. Free trade discussion between the EFTA and the GCC were established in February 2006 and were concluded in April 2008. The deal was inked in Norway on June 2009.
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