Australia still ‘very interested’ in GCC-FTA

Dubai: Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner for the Middle East and North Africa pushed Wednesday to keep his country’s bid to secure a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at the top of the agenda.

“Australia is still very interested in the FTA, [we’re] still holding conversations with the GCC secretariat,” Gerard Seeber, Australia’s Consul General to the UAE, told reporters at a press conference in Dubai.

Next week Australia’s Minister for Tourism and International Education, Richard Colbeck, will lead a business delegation to the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia where he is expected to raise the FTA in bilateral government meetings. Colbeck, who is also Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment, will also visit Qatar but without the delegation.

Negotiations faltered

Australia is looking to secure an FTA with the GCC, and also India, following the signing of FTA’s with China, Japan and South Korea in the past two years.

But negotiations with the GCC have faltered since 2009, shortly after the GCC took over all negotiations for its six members; the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Australia had been close to securing a bilateral agreement with the UAE prior to the GCC taking over talks.

Australia’s Ambassador-designate to the UAE, Arthur Spyrou, told reporters his country believes a GCC FTA “is a natural step for us to take.” He, however, said “there is more to do including in terms of an investment chapter”.

Australia has made several high-level visits to the region in recent years in effort to push through a deal. Trade Minister Andrew Robb visited the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in April 2015 and then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott visited the UAE in October 2013. Trade with the GCC was valued at 12.3 billion Australian dollars (Dh31.7 billion) in 2013.