Preliminary Meeting with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

May 19, 2006

On May 20 (Sat) and 21 (Sun) in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), Japan will hold a preliminary meeting for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprising six countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Japanese delegation includes Mr. Shinsuke Sugiyama, Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Deputy Director-General-level officials of the bureaus of each ministry, as co-chair of the meeting.
For early beginning of the official negotiations, the participants will discuss the framework of the negotiations and will coordinate the future schedule. The meeting will also include the exchange of views on wide-ranging matters pertaining to trade in goods and services.

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