The Free Trade Agreement between the six-member bloc of GCC and Turkey will boost economic and trade ties and potentially create “one of the world’s largest FTAs” with $2.4 trillion in trade opportunity, analysts have said.
The Gulf countries are holding trade talks with Turkey in Ankara after signing a pact in March to start discussions on an agreement.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world’s largest economy, is participating in two-day negotiations, led by the General Authority of Foreign Trade, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
“By liberalising trade in goods and services and investment, a GCC-Turkey FTA would potentially create one of the world’s largest FTAs of $2.4 trillion if fully implemented,” Nasser Saidi, a former economy minister and vice-governor of Lebanon's central bank, told The National.
“This would require agreement on domestic content, GCC co-ordination with Turkey on trade facilitation to avoid long waiting times at borders, inappropriate fees, cumbersome customs formalities, and inadequate or unclear rules and regulations.”
The latest development comes as the Gulf countries continued to strengthen trade and economic relations with Turkey.
Last year, the UAE signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Turkey, which is expected to boost bilateral non-oil trade to more than $40 billion in the next five years, from about $19 billion as of last year.
The two countries also signed agreements and accords worth $50.7 billion during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the UAE in July last year.
In 2022, the UAE Central Bank also finalised a bilateral currency swap agreement with its Turkish counterpart to improve trade and investment ties.
Saudi Arabia is also bolstering its economic ties with Turkey. Last year, the kingdom deposited $5 billion in Turkey’s Central Bank through the Saudi Fund for Development to shore up its foreign exchange reserves after its economy suffered from the effect of some of Ankara's more unconventional policies.
However, the deposit was returned to Saudi Arabia last week after an improvement in Turkey’s economy, the Financial Times reported.
“The GCC are now negotiating as a trading bloc, strengthening their negotiating power as compared to negotiating individually,” Mr Saidi said.
“Greater regional economic and financial integration implies greater economic diversification gains and generate higher economic growth.”
He said that the GCC and Turkey are to benefit from the deal as global trade is disrupted by sanctions and tariffs at a time when the US and China are at odds.
The deal will also have “positive spillover effects for other countries, such as Iraq and Syria, that can benefit as GCC-Turkey trade and investment links grow”, Mr Saidi said.
There are also strong banking ties between the two nations. Last year, Dubai Islamic Bank, the UAE's biggest Sharia-compliant lender by assets, acquired a 20 per cent stake in Turkey's TOM Group of Companies, marking its entry into the nation's banking sector.
In 2019, Emirates NBD completed the acquisition of Turkey’s Denizbank from Russia’s Sberbank after gaining regulatory approval for the deal in all three countries.
A GCC-Turkey free-trade agreement could also facilitate Brics membership and “add an important economic and geostrategic member”, to the 10-member bloc, Mr Saidi said.
Saudi Arabia, along with the UAE, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia, joined Brics on January 1, doubling its membership, with Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as the original members.
An agreement at GCC level, however, is expected to take “longer to finalise”, as negotiations continue, Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said.
“What is important is that there is willingness to see strong economic and trade relations,” she said.
Turkey has a large population, a diverse economy and offers potential for demand growth, Ms Malik added.
“With Turkey moving towards more orthodox monetary policy, you are also starting to see more optimism on the economic outlook. All of these factors, are all positive for the wider Gulf,” she said.
Since last year, Turkey abandoned Mr Erdogan's low interest policy and started raising interest rates to bring down inflation.
The move resulted in Moody's Investors Service upgrading Turkey's sovereign credit rating, the first such rating action in more than a decade, citing improvements in governance and economic policies.
The country's sovereign credit rating was raised to “B1" from “B3", with a positive outlook, the credit rating agency said this month.
GCC countries will also benefit from stronger economic ties with Turkey, with oil and petrochemicals, banking, property and construction as well as green energy benefiting from the deal, Ms Malik said.
Hasnain Malik, head of emerging markets strategy at Tellimer, an investment research company in Dubai, said Turkey has a “much larger, more competitively priced” manufacturing export sector than the GCC.
“So, a free-trade deal is likely to benefits it more both in terms of higher export growth to and foreign direct investment from the GCC,” he said.
“Specific beneficiaries could be the banks from Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE with Turkish operations that are already in a position to capture greater cross-border financial flows.”
The GCC bloc is signing trade and economic deals around the world.
In December, it signed a free-trade agreement with South Korea to boost trade and economic ties between the GCC and Seoul. The Gulf bloc signed a similar agreement with Pakistan in September.
It is also in talks towards a free-trade agreement with the UK.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
McIlroy's recent struggles
Last six stroke-play events (First round score in brackets)
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tied for 4th (74)
The US Masters Tied for 7th (72)
The Players Championship Tied for 35th (73)
US Open Missed the cut (78)
Travellers Championship Tied for 17th (67)
Irish Open Missed the cut (72)
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Stamp%20duty%20timeline
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Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
Engine 60kwh FWD
Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power 204hp Torque 360Nm
Price, base / as tested Dh174,500
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 290hp
Torque: 340Nm
Price: Dh155,800
On sale: now
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPECS
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
