The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Japan announced their resumption of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. GCC and Japan signed a joint statement in this regard on the sidelines of the meeting held in Jeddah on Sunday between Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida and GCC Secretary-General Jassem Al-Budaiwi. Commenting on this, GCC secretary-general said that this announcement comes in implementation of the directives of the Ministerial Council to ink free trade agreements with the trade partners of the GCC countries as part of the priorities that were agreed to accomplish at its session which took place in June 2022. Al-Budaiwi added that Japan is considered as one of the priorities of the GCC with which it seeks to bolster their strategic, economic, development and investment relations. The secretary-general expressed the hopes of the GCC member states to consolidate trade and investment ties between the two sides through this agreement. He highlighted its role in launching a new era of partnership that is aimed at providing many opportunities for joint growth for the business communities of both sides, especially in priority sectors. Al-Budaiwi pointed out that this agreement will pave the way for the development of a comprehensive economic framework based on mutual interests, which, in return, would establish stronger strategic cooperation, promote innovation, stimulate economic growth, and create job opportunities for both sides. He emphasized the strategic and important bonds between the GCC countries and Japan in all areas, most notably the high level of political coordination, as well as cooperation in the field of energy and trade exchange. He indicated that Japan ranked fourth in terms of exports from the GCC countries with a value of $76.7 billion and ranked fourth in terms of imports from the GCC which are valued at $22 billion. — SG