UK Nears Major Trade Agreement with Six Gulf Nations

(MENAFN) UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced that Britain is close to finalizing a trade agreement with six Gulf nations, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, describing it as the country's "next deal" in an ongoing post-Brexit strategy to expand international trade links.

In a Tuesday interview with a news agency, Reeves detailed the government's trade agenda, highlighting a series of recent deals with the United States, the European Union, and India, all concluded in the past two weeks. She said these agreements have elevated the UK’s global trade standing.

“Britain is in a better place than any other country in the world in terms of deals with those countries,” she said. “The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India.”

Reeves stressed that expanding trade with members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) could significantly boost economic growth.

Negotiations with the GCC — which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — were initially launched by the former Conservative government and have continued under Labour leadership.

The chancellor further addressed the UK’s trade stance on China, stating: “We are not looking to have trade negotiations with China.”

Back in April, Foreign Secretary David Lammy reaffirmed that the Labour government was carrying forward the Gulf trade talks, signaling consistency with one of the former administration's key foreign trade policies.

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