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GCC

Gulf Cooperation Council

FTA delay ’not an option’
29-Jul-2008
Businessmen on both sides are pushing the GCC and the European Union towards a free trade agreement - or the next best thing, according to Bahrain-based weekly business intelligence magazine The Gulf.
Palestine in the Middle East: Opposing neoliberalism and US power
16-Jul-2008 The Bullet
It is not merely the depth of suffering or length of exile that makes the Palestinian struggle an imperative of international solidarity in the current period. It is also the central location of the struggle within the broader context of global resistance to imperialism and neoliberalism. At the heart of this regional framework is the intrinsic relationship between the development of neoliberal capitalism in the Middle East and normalization of relations with Israel. All of the efforts of the US and their client regimes in the region are aimed at promoting these.
VAT and trade pacts clash
14-Jul-2008 Emirates Business 24/7
Imposing a value added tax (VAT) on GCC and Arab products in the UAE would be against the agreements signed by the country with other Gulf and Arab states, according to the Ministry of Economy.
SKorea, Gulf states agree to forge free trade deal next year
9-Jul-2008 AFP
South Korea and six Gulf states agreed Wednesday to forge a free trade deal by the end of next year, a chief negotiator from the Seoul side said.
Korea, Gulf states to begin FTA talks
3-Jul-2008 MySinchew
South Korea and the Gulf Cooperation Council will hold their first round of talks for a free-trade agreement in Seoul next week, seeking to establish a basic approach for negotiating the envisioned deal
GCC rejects strings to EU free trade deal
13-Jun-2008 Middle East Online
Gulf Cooperation Council says will not accept any political conditions by the European Union to sign a free trade agreement. The EU’s final position is expected in July.
GCC, EFTA to sign FTA by year-end
11-Jun-2008 Arabian Business
A free trade agreement between the GCC and the European Free Trade Association could be signed by the end of 2008, the official Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
’EU lobby behind delay in FTA deal’
10-Jun-2008 Emirates Business 24/7
The European Union has delayed signing a free trade agreement with the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council countries because of opposition by a powerful lobby within the EU, a Saudi official was quoted as saying yesterday.
Arab Gulf states disappointed with talks on free trade pact with EU
27-May-2008 IHT
Kuwait’s foreign minister says Arab Gulf states are "disappointed" with the slow pace of their negotiations with the European Union on a free trade pact.
GCC: Free trade agreements mark a major shift in trade policy
1-May-2008 Gulf News
FTAs mark a major shift in the policy of GCC countries’ foreign trade. They have just signed one with EFTA, concluded talks with Singapore earlier this year and made strides in signing similar deals with China, India, Pakistan, Japan, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. Further FTA talks are expected to begin soon with Iran and South Korea, while the EU hesitates.
GCC, EFTA in agreement over free trade
27-Apr-2008 Arab Times
Negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) have been finalized, said Secretary General of the GCC Abdulrahaman Al-Atiyya on Saturday, after five rounds of talks.
GCC-India FTA talks ‘on track’
25-Apr-2008
Discussions on a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are expected to make a substantial progress with in a year, according to Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath.
Talks on India-GCC FTA to move forward this year: Nath
24-Apr-2008
India today said talks on the free trade agreement between India and Gulf Cooperation Council are likely to move forward this year.
Human rights vow over trade talks
18-Apr-2008
Human rights issues will be high on the agenda in negotiations between the European Union and the GCC on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a senior official declared in Bahrain last night.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Gulf’s new dynamics
14-Apr-2008 FDI Magazine
Charles Roxborough, who leads management consultancy McKinsey & Company’s global corporate and investment banking practice, estimates that by 2020 sovereign wealth funds, of which some of the richest are located in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region, will have invested a staggering $7000bn in capital markets. “They’re reshaping strategies at banks and intermediaries,” he says. He believes that hedge funds, Asian central banks and sovereign wealth funds have tripled their market position since 2000 and now make about 5% of global investments.
Early GCC-EU trade pact urged
11-Apr-2008
The Federation of the GCC Chambers is inviting the European Union and the GCC to speed up signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two blocs.
UN to review rights report
27-Mar-2008 Gulf Daily News
Bahrain human rights activists will raise issues related to "unconstitutional" constituency boundaries at a key meeting with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They are joining another group of activists from GCC states, who will meet officials from the European Union Commission and European Parliament in Brussels. The GCC group will highlight their reservations on their governments’ approach to various human rights issues ahead of the signing of a Gulf-EU Free trade agreement.
Singapore to promote trade ties with Middle East
12-Mar-2008
Singapore has completed a free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a senior official said Tuesday.
Singapore to sign FTA with Gulf countries
3-Mar-2008 Business 24
The Singapore-UAE bilateral FTA talks have been abandoned for a broader GCC-Singapore FTA. The negotiations were progressing for some time but now they have shifted to the GCC level and we are about to sign an agreement.
New US push for Mideast free trade deal
28-Feb-2008
US officials are engaged in "informal" talks with several GCC countries on possibly concluding a Middle East Free Trade Agreement (Mefta) by 2014, it was revealed yesterday.