Bahar Al-Rawas was present on behalf of Oman, which holds the presidency of the GCC Ministerial Council. This accord has added significance as GCC states decided to go ahead and sign a free trade deal with EFTA countries which are not EU members as GCC-EU free trade talks broke down recently. Before his departure for Norway, Al-Atiyyah said, “The FTA with the four European countries will be another important milestone in our relations with EFTA.” He maintained that GCC-EU free trade talks had come to a halt but discussions were going on at a certain level. The agreement calls for more intensified trade contacts between EFTA countries and the GCC, whose economy is set to grow steadily between now and 2020 at a faster rate than the global average, according to a report. The Gulf states will achieve an average annual growth of 4.5 percent compared with an aggregate global rate that will be lower. “Moreover, GCC oil and gas production capacity is rising, and could rise much further by 2020,” said the report. --MORE
