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28 min ago 3 min read
The UK has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries which will remove an estimated £580m in duties annually.
Around two-thirds of UK goods will enter the six countries in the bloc – Saudia Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman – tariff-free immediately after the deal begins, rising to around 93% after 10 years.
An official launch date was not released. Typically FTAs take 12 to 18 months from the conclusion of negotiations.
The deal removes tariffs on food exports, medical equipment and advanced manufacturing while the GCC gains critical access to British expertise, financial architecture, and hi-tech supply chains.
Clean energy technologies are also in line to benefit. The FTA will support the growth of UK companies already doing business in the region.
Aniruddha Sharma, Carbon Clean Chair and CEO, said the fastest path to scale runs across borders, and with and underway in the UAE (Adnoc) and Saudi Arabia (Aramco), it has seen how the Middle East can play a decisive role in driving carbon capture, utilisation and storage forward.
“A UK-GCC free trade agreement would help growing companies, such as ourselves, move quickly from demonstration to large-scale deployment by breaking down regulatory and legal barriers to collaboration, strengthening the conditions for innovation and deepening collaboration between two regions with a shared interest in becoming global leaders in this field,” he said.
Akin Adamson, Ricardo Managing Director, Middle East, said the FTA will foster bilateral cooperation, drive innovation and increase shared prosperity.
The timing of the deal is significant, given the ongoing Middle East conflict and rising concerns over energy security. Gulf states are at various levels of progress with clean energy, but the current crisis, and restrictions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, have highlighted insecurities with fossil fuel exports.
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