Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The General Authority for Foreign Trade has recently resumed its free trade negotiations with a number of countries and economic blocs, Okaz/Saudi Gazette has learnt from sources. The authority has directed the Council of Saudi Chambers to communicate with the business sector to take advantage of this as well as to take the inventory of services that the Saudi private sector wishes to export to the countries with which it is planned to resume free trade negotiations in the near future. These countries include China, Australia, Britain, India and Pakistan as well as other non-Arab countries. This initiative gains importance while taking into account of the difficulties faced by the private sector in the service sectors for doing free trade with these countries, apart from its tangible positive impact on the Saudi economy. The authority is working to open new markets with inclusion of the Saudi private sector requests in the same category of the Kingdom's requests within the framework of the negotiating rounds. Priority is being given to giant, large and medium-sized companies, which yield great economic returns. The major services that Saudi companies want to export to the designated countries include the following: transport with its categories of land, sea, and air; distribution services including wholesale, retail and commercial franchise; professional services such as accounting, legal, engineering, medical, computer services; financial services, including banking services, insurance services; and communication services. The sectors also include mail, express mail, media, hotel, construction and contracting, education and training, travel and tourism, environment and entertainment. The authority demanded from the business community a detailed description about the services that are intended to export, as well as the expected benefit from exporting the service in terms of export value, and the target country. Established in 2019, the authority is responsible for enhancing the Kingdom's international commercial and investment activities. The authority's regulations stipulate that it will be responsible for enabling the Kingdom's exports to have access to foreign markets, as well as working to open new markets for it and removing external obstacles it faces in coordination with the relevant government agencies. It will also carry out the tasks and responsibilities of commercial transactions and defending the interests of the Kingdom in this regard locally and internationally. The authority will also frame relevant policies, strategies, plans and programs in coordination with the relevant authorities, and represent the Kingdom in the World Trade Organization.
