General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said the Jeddah meeting would discuss matters related to a GCC common market in preparation to announce its formation at the next GCC summit. “It will also review the progress of negotiations with economic groups,” he added. The GCC-EU free trade agreement is expected to boost GCC exports to Europe and bring more foreign direct investment to the member countries that seek funds to carry out vital projects in energy, petrochemical, telecom, power generation, railway and desalination sectors. It will also improve economic welfare in the GCC member states. GCC countries import EU goods worth 47.4 billion euros, thus being Europe's fifth largest market in the world. GCC imports include cars, planes, machinery, and building materials. GCC exports crude oil, petrochemicals and aluminum products worth 35.2 billion euros to Europe. It holds 14th place among foreign exporters to EU countries.
