Kuwait-US FTA likely by 2013
Gulf Daily News, Bahrain
Kuwait-US FTA likely by 2013
16 March 2007
Kuwait: A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be signed between the US and Kuwait by 2013, a senior US official said.
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted US undersecretary for international trade Frank Lavin as saying that he had based his expectation on a proposal presented by us president George W Bush in 2003 to establish a US-Middle East free trade area in 10 years.
He referred to the US-Kuwaiti Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) of 2002, describing it as a basis for the future FTA.
He said that US exports to Kuwait almost tripled by soaring from usd $791 million in 2000 to $2.13 billion in 2006.
With bilateral trade exceeding $6.1bn in 2006, the us has become one of Kuwait’s major trade partners, Lavin added.
