Qatar - Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed al-Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UK and his counterpart Neerav Patel address a function to mark the launch of 'The Economic Contribution of Qatari Investments in the UK'.

The UK-GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council) free trade agreement (FTA) is on its last mile and expected to be signed by the end of this year, according to Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed al-Thani, Qatar’s ambassador to the UK.

"It (the UK-GCC FTA) is in the last mile and by the end of this year we should see the light in the tunnel," Sheikh Abdulla said at a function where a report 'The Economic Contribution of Qatari Investments in the UK', prepared by the Centre for Business and Economic Research (CEBR), was launched.

The Gulf countries - Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - which have embarked on reforms to diversify their economies away from hydrocarbons, view that benefits would be plentiful and that the US' tariff policies have now given a renewed thrust for the UK to reach a FTA with the GCC.

Highlighting that the GCC are open trading nations, British ambassador to Qatar Neerav Patel said: "I think now or never would be an important moment for us to show the signal that we are ready to deepen that trading partnership to our mutual benefit."

Finding that it (FTA) is one of those areas that sometimes don’t get the headlines or the public attention; he said but there's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to try and make that a success.

The UK believes a GCC FTA would increase bilateral trade by 16% and could add an extra £8.6bn a year to the existing £57.4bn worth of annual trade between the two sides.

In reply to written question in the UK parliament, Douglas Alexander, Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security had in December last year said talks throughout the autumn have continued to be constructive, with good momentum from the GCC, which has enabled further treaty text to be agreed. The focus from both sides is on achieving a modern and commercially meaningful agreement.

A mutually beneficial FTA between the UK and the GCC will deliver economic growth, higher wages and new investment, he said, adding the negotiation is progressing at pace and good progress is being made in services, investment and digital; goods; and other areas such as sustainable trade, including environment and labour.

"Central to growing our economy and ensuring working people in every community feel the benefits of that growth, is an expansion of FTAs with strategic partners," according to him.

The UK's recently appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, had described a FTA with the GCC as “in development”.

The GCC secretary-general Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi had last year highlighted a strong interest from the new British government (under Keir Starmer) and a genuine desire to wrap up the FTA negotiation rounds.

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Santhosh V. Perumal