The GCC and Japan signed on Sunday, a joint statement to resume negotiations on a free trade agreement between the two parties.
The General Secretariat stated in a statement that this came on the sidelines of the meeting held by GCC Secretary General Jassim Al-Budaiwi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The GCC Secretary General said that the announcement comes in implementation of the directives of the Ministerial Council to conclude free trade agreements with the trading partners of the GCC countries within the list of priorities that it approved at its session held in June 2022.
Al-Budaiwi noted that Japan is one of the countries that the Cooperation Council seeks to strengthening its strategic, economic, and developmental and investment relations with.
Al-Budaiwi expressed aspirations on behalf the GCC countries to consolidate trade and investment relations between the two sides and launch a new era of partnership aimed at providing many opportunities for joint growth for the two business communities, especially in priority sectors.
He added that this agreement would pave the way for the development of a comprehensive economic framework based on mutual interests and would establish strategic cooperation that promotes innovation, stimulates economic growth and creates job opportunities on both sides.
The GCC chief stressed that GCC countries and Japan have strategic relations covering all aspects, most notably the high level of political coordination and cooperation in the field of energy and trade exchange, noting that Japan ranked fourth in terms of Gulf countries’ exports with a value of USD 7.76 billion and fourth in terms of imports to Gulf countries with a value of USD 22 billion.
Al-Budaiwi also announced an agreement to hold a GCC-Japan meeting at the foreign ministers levels in the near future.
He added that the agreed goal of such meeting is to enhance the strategic dialogue on the one hand, and intensify various aspects of cooperation between the two sides on the other hand, praising the great role that Japan plays regionally and internationally and its compatibility with the GCC countries and its support for it in many issues of common concern.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
