GCC Secretary-General: GCC-UK Relations Built on Cooperation, and Shared Interests
Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Albudaiwi stated that relations between the GCC states and the United Kingdom (UK) are founded on a long history of cooperation, trust, and shared interests, which has contributed to exploring and establishing a distinguished economic and trade partnership between the two sides.
His remarks came during his opening speech at the GCC-UK Strategic Dialogue, on Tuesday in the British capital, London, in the presence of several ministers from both sides, alongside numerous officials, business leaders, and investors.
During his speech, the secretary-general stated that the foundations of the economic partnership between the two sides bring together the ambitious development visions of the GCC states and the UK’s extensive expertise across a wide range of vital sectors. He noted the importance of strengthening cooperation amid global economic transformations, geopolitical developments, and the challenges confronting trade, investment, and supply chains.
In the same context, he added that the member states continue to advance towards achieving important goals in economic integration, diversifying productive bases, improving business environments, and empowering the private sector, pointing out that the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the GCC states reached approximately $2.4 trillion, placing them collectively among the world’s 10 largest economies; and the total foreign trade of the GCC states exceeded $1.8 trillion, ranking them collectively fifth globally.
Furthermore, he highlighted efforts to strengthen cybersecurity and the digital economy. This transformation, he explained, supports economic growth and enhanced global competitiveness for the GCC states.
Moreover, he indicated that the total trade volume between the GCC states and the UK reached approximately $70 billion in 2025, making the GCC states collectively the UK’s 10th-largest trading partner; and the total value of investment assets and liabilities between the UK and the GCC reached approximately $643 billion in 2024, reflecting the depth of economic and investment ties between both sides.
Building on this, he stated that the conclusion of negotiations on the GCC-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA) represents a strategic step towards expanding trade, encouraging investment, and creating new opportunities for the private sector.
He noted that the conclusion of the FTA negotiations is the fruit of sustained joint efforts and intensive negotiations. He expressed his sincere appreciation to the negotiating teams from both sides, and to all the institutions that contributed to this achievement.
He highlighted that this agreement provides for the elimination of customs duties on more than 99% of GCC exports to the UK, which will open broader horizons for increasing non-oil exports, particularly in the aluminum, fertilizer, and manufacturing sectors. He added that the agreement also provides opportunities for logistics and re-exports, while enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to expand their operations and increase their access to the British market.
He further underlined the importance of the FTA, noting that its benefits extend beyond trade to lay a more robust foundation for long-term economic and investment partnerships. These partnerships cover, in particular, advanced manufacturing, the digital economy and artificial intelligence, clean energy, financial services, education, food security, and logistics. He stressed that these sectors support joint investment, technology and knowledge transfer, and building stronger productive capacities.
