GCC keen to 'quickly' start talks for free trade agreement: Goyal

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has expressed the desire to "quickly" get back on the negotiating table to discuss a potential trade agreement, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

Last year, both the regions agreed to pursue an FTA and resume the negotiations. GCC is a union of six countries in the Gulf region -- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain. The council is the largest trading bloc of India.

"We have large investments coming from GCC countries. We already have a FTA with UAEThe GCC countries led by Saudi Arabia have expressed the desire to quickly get back on the negotiating table to discuss potential agreements with the GCC countries.

Many GCC member nations have also approached India individually with the request to enter into a bilateral agreement," he told reporters here.

The minister is here for the G20 trade and investment ministerial meeting.

Among the economic regions, GCC is the top source of imports. Imports from GCC countries were USD 133 billion in 2022-23, up 20.3 per cent on year while exports were 16.7 per cent higher at USD 51.3 billion.

India's exports to the GCC member countries grew by 58.26 per cent to about USD 44 billion in 2021-22 against USD 27.8 billion in 2020-21.

Bilateral trade in goods has increased to USD 154.73 billion in 2021-22 from USD 87.4 billion in 2020-21. Services trade between the two regions was valued at around USD 14 billion in 2021-22, with exports aggregated at USD 5.5 billion and imports at USD 8.3 billion.

Both sides held negotiations for the trade pact in 2006 and 2008 but talks stalled thereafter due to unknown reasons.

Gulf nations are host to a sizable Indian population. Out of about 32 million non-resident Indians (NRIs), nearly half are estimated to be working in the Gulf countries.