Saif leaves to sign FTA deal
Gulf Daily News, Bahrain
13 September 2004
Saif leaves to sign FTA deal
MANAMA: Finance and National Economy Minister Abdulla Saif left for Washington DC, US, yesterday to sign a Free Trade Agreement between Bahrain and the US tomorrow. Signing on behalf of the US will be Trade Representative Ambassador Robert Zoellick.
Once the agreement comes into force, 96 per cent of Bahrain’s industrial and agricultural products will receive immediate duty-free access to the US markets.
Bahrain will similarly provide immediate duty-free access to US products.
Service providers from each country will enjoy substantial market access to the market of the other country and will be accorded National or Most-Favoured Nation Treatment.
Key service sectors covered by the agreement include telecommunications, education, healthcare, tourism, engineering and construction.
Financial service providers from both countries will enjoy access to the other’s financial services market. The agreement promotes a liberalised, non-discriminatory trade environment for e-commerce. It also calls for enhanced intellectual property rights protection.
Commitments to ensure transparency and efficiency in customs administration are included.
Specific rules of origin are laid out to ensure that only Bahrain and US goods benefit from the preferential duty treatment of the agreement.
The FTA advocates strong protection for workers’ rights and commitment to adopt best standards of environmental protection.
It also requires transparency in trade-related laws and regulations.
The first step in establishing the US-Bahrain FTA was the Treaty on the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment, signed between the two countries on September 29, 1999. Next came the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) on June 18, 2002.
The Bahraini delegation also includes Bahrain’s Ambassador to the US Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa, Commerce Ministry Foreign Trade Assistant Under-Secretary Shaikh Duaij bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s economic representative to the US Dr Naser Al Belooshi, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Khalid Kanoo, Finance and National Economy Ministry economic planning director Yousif Humood and others.
