Starmer hails 'good progress' on trade deal with GCC

Talks resumed in September to achieve 'modern and commercially meaningful agreement'

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have discussed tariffs and economic partnerships. Reuters; PA

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hailed the “good progress” on efforts to agree on a GCC-UK trade deal, in a call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In Wednesday's call, they discussed tariffs and an economic partnership, Downing Street said. “The leaders started by discussing recent developments on global trade tariffs,” a spokeswoman said.

“The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to working closely with international partners to maintain global economic stability. He added that the UK will continue to take a measured and calm approach.

“The leaders discussed the importance of strengthening economic partnerships to provide further certainty for businesses, and agreed to build on the good progress so far on the UK-GCC free trade agreement.

“Turning to defence, the leaders agreed to continue work to deepen defence and security co-operation.”

The Saudi Press Agency reported that the two leaders “reviewed bilateral relations, explored areas of co-operation, and discussed ways to enhance them. They also addressed several topics of mutual interest".

After last year’s general election, Britain’s Labour government said it was eager to restart talks towards securing a free-trade agreement with the GCC.

Negotiations resumed in September and since then virtual and in person negotiations have taken place, including a GCC delegation visiting London in October and a UK delegation visiting Riyadh in November.

In December, trade minister Douglas Alexander said the focus from both sides was on achieving a “modern and commercially meaningful agreement”.

The UK's recently appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Emma Reynolds, told The National last month the UK aimed to deepen its trade and investment partnership with the UAE and was seeking more dual listings on the London Stock Exchange to further strengthen ties in the financial sector.

Ms Reynolds described a free trade agreement with the GCC as “in development”, but there was “for more, a more detailed partnership with the UAE on the GCC-FTA”.

She said the UAE is a “hugely important economy for us … [the two countries have a] historically close relationship".

“We signed a MoU [memorandum of understanding] together on financial services in October 2023," she added. "So, I've been discussing where we can have concrete follow-up steps, whether it's progress on dual listings that we'd like to see, or on further exchanging ideas around open banking and FinTech and, indeed, sustainable finance.”

Record numbers of tourists from the UAE and Gulf regions are expected to visit the UK this year and spend an estimated £3.5 billion ($455.7 billion).

In its inbound tourism forecast for 2025, VisitBritain research has found 548,000 UAE visitors will travel to the UK – up 10 per cent on the 2024 estimate. Their spending is expected to jump by 22 per cent to £1.1 billion this year on their trips in the UK, according to Oxford Economics.

The number of tourists from GCC countries, including the UAE, visiting the UK is also set to rise to 1.4 million, an eight per cent rise on the 2024 estimate.