Britain’s new trade ministers, Jonathan Reynolds and Douglas Alexander, began a joint visit to the Gulf region on Monday for talks on a potential free trade deal, the government announced. The ministers are meeting with their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The UK government, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party since its landslide election victory in July, is actively pursuing trade agreements to stimulate economic growth. In addition to the Gulf, the government is targeting trade deals with India, Switzerland, and South Korea.
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“I want to see a high-quality trade deal that supports jobs, helps UK companies sell their products to the region, and increases choice for consumers,” Reynolds said in a statement.
Britain’s Business and Trade Department estimates that a free trade agreement with the GCC could increase the UK economy by £1.6 billion ($2.10 billion) over the long term. Trade has been a weak spot in the British economy in recent years, with many business groups attributing the slowdown partly to Brexit. Among the Group of Seven advanced economies, Britain ranks last for growth in goods and services exports since 2019, even after accounting for its substantial precious metals trade.