PRESS RELEASE : UK joins top Gulf commerce ministers for trade talks in Oman [September 2023]

The press release issued by the Department for Business and Trade on 15 September 2023.

Minister Huddleston visits Oman to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Commerce Ministers’ summit.

Nigel Huddleston, UK Minister for International Trade, is in Oman today [13 September] to hold talks with top trade ministers from across the Gulf region.

This is the first time a UK Minister has been invited in this capacity to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Commerce Ministers’ summit – part of a regular series attended by commerce ministers from all six GCC countries. The summit comes a year after the first round of talks on a UK-GCC Free Trade Agreement.

UK Minister for International Trade Nigel Huddleston said:

We already have powerful trade ties with the GCC, and I am pleased to be able to take this chance to further improve our relationship.

We want a modern, comprehensive, and ambitious free trade deal that will promote innovation, encourage investment, and help develop the industries of the future.

“There’s a great prize on offer here – the potential for what we can achieve together in the years and decades to come is huge.”

The GCC is one the UK’s most important trading partners, with trade growing to £65.2 billion in 2022 – an increase of over 75% in current prices. Previous Government analysis shows that, in the long run, a deal with the GCC is expected to increase trade by 16%.

A deal could increase UK businesses’ access to booming markets in the Gulf and will also make it easier for people across the GCC to access UK expertise in areas including life sciences, artificial intelligence and renewables.

During the visit, the Minister will also tour the Port of Salalah, the biggest port in Oman, ranked the second most efficient container port in the world in 2021.

Oliver Christian, the government’s new Trade Commissioner for the Middle East, will join Minister Huddleston for discussions.