GCC signs free trade accord with EFTA

Riyadh, June 23, SPA -- The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
and four European states, which are members of the European Free
Trade Association (EFTA), signed a free trade agreement (FTA) in
Norway yesterday.


On behalf of the GCC, Abdul Rahman Al-Atiyyah, GCC secretary
general, signed the FTA, while the ministers of trade and economy
from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein signed the accord
on behalf of EFTA, according to a report published today by Arab
News.

The EFTA is composed of the four European countries that have not
join the EU. It is an intergovernmental organization set up for the
promotion of free trade and economic integration for the benefit of
its member states. The Association is responsible for the management
of the EFTA convention, which forms the legal basis of the
organization and governs free trade relations between the EFTA
states.

“The free trade agreement was signed today in the Norwegian city of
Hamar, about 100 miles north of Oslo, where EFTA was holding its
summer ministerial meeting,” said Ambassador Christian Etter,
delegate of the Swiss Government for Trade Agreements, who is
currently visiting Saudi Arabia with a Swiss delegation.



Etter told Arab News, “The GCC and EFTA have set out a new vision of
commercial relationship by signing this accord.”

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