International Business: Britain launches free trade talks with Gulf countries – Gulf Digital News

International Business: Britain launches free trade talks with Gulf countries – Gulf Digital News

LONDON: Britain will launch talks over a new free trade deal with six Gulf states including Saudi Arabia on Wednesday and charities warned it not to ignore human rights in its latest bid to grow non-EU ties after Brexit.

Trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will visit Riyadh to begin discussions with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as well as Saudi Arabia.

In 2021 total trade between the UK and the GCC was worth 33.1 billion pounds ($40.35 billion), of which 11 billion pounds in trade was with Saudi Arabia.

"I'm excited to open up new markets for UK businesses large and small, and supporting the more than 10,000 SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) already exporting to the region," Trevelyan said in a statement.

It is the fourth set of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks that Britain has launched this year after India, Canada and Mexico, as London looks to replace continuity deals it struck before it left the European Union's trading orbit with fresh post-Brexit agreements.

Britain said a deal with the GCC could reduce or remove tariffs on UK food and drink exports to the region, worth 625 million pounds last