The historic US-GCC summit held last week in Riyadh should pave the way for strengthening commercial relationships between the two sides. The eventual hope is to turn the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement into a free-trade agreement between the US and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council.

Certainly, concluding an FTA with the US is not possible at the moment partly reflecting demands by the US regarding laws concerning workers, copyright, competition, etc.

Currently, the US has a separate FTA with Bahrain and Oman. Recently, the US and Bahrain marked the 10th anniversary of their bilateral FTA. The accord opened up the world’s largest market for Bahraini exports. The agreement suggests that business laws in Bahrain meet US requirements, in turn creating an advantage in attracting foreign direct investments.

Both Bahrain and Oman had no option but to streamline laws concerning rights of foreign workers and on copyright in order to win Congressional endorsement.

Still, the US and GCC have the option to enhance trade and investments. Stats released by the US Census Bureau show mixed results in bilateral trade with the different GCC countries. For instance, two-way trade in goods between the US and Saudi Arabia in 2015 amounted to $41.8 billion, with the kingdom exporting goods worth $22.1 billion. Other figures put the value of all kinds of trading between the US and Saudi Arabia at $74 billion in 2015 as opposed to a mere $26 billion a decade ago.

Conversely, the US exported goods worth $23 billion to the UAE versus imports of $2.5 billion. Understandably, US firms are making use of the port facilities in the UAE, notably Dubai’s, as a transit point. Among other things, these comprise transportation equipment, computer and electronic products.

And then there is the Open Skies agreements, in turn credited for expanding air links between the US and GCC. Not surprisingly, GCC carriers notably Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways operate numerous daily flights to and from major American cities. The latest count puts at 25 daily non-stop flights leaving for the US to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Emirates leads the way with 15 daily flights between Dubai and the US, namely New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Orlando, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. The carrier operates an A380 on most of its US routes, with a second daily A380 to Los Angeles commencing in July. In retrospect, Emirates started its flights to the US in 2004 with a single flight to New York and the rest is history.

For its part, Qatar Airways is to start a daily non-stop flight between Doha and Atlanta in June, adding to its ever expanding network that includes Philadelphia and Miami. This year, the carrier commenced flights to Los Angeles and Boston in January and March, in addition to a second daily to New York.

Notably enough, passengers at Terminal 3 in Abu Dhabi undertake all immigration, customs and agriculture inspections in Abu Dhabi before boarding US-bound flights. The United States Customs and Border Protection run the pre-clearance service. Certainly, the service works to the advantage of Etihad, the national airline of the UAE.

To be sure, President Obama’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was his fourth since assuming office in 2009. Clearly, the US appreciates the importance of the GCC in helping addressing global challenges, including the troubles in Libya and fighting terrorism.

The writer is a Member of Parliament in Bahrain.