Doha – After a long pause, the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and of the Mercosur are going to disclose during the 2nd Summit of South American-Arab Countries (Aspa), on the 31st, in Doha, Qatar, a statement regarding the progress of negotiations of the free trade agreement between both blocs.
According to the minutes of the document, obtained exclusively by ANBA, the heads of state of the countries involved "have instructed their ministers and agencies to speed up the meetings aimed at a rapid conclusion of negotiations".
The negotiations were launched in May 2005, at the 1st Aspa, promoted in Brazil, and they were considered by the diplomatic representatives as something to be concluded rapidly, due to the small number of segments of the economies of both regions to compete. The GCC includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman, and the Mercosur, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Negotiations jammed, however, in the petrochemical industry. Concerned about the high production and competitiveness of the sector in the Gulf, the companies in the Mercosur pressed against a significant reduction in import tariffs. In answer, GCC negotiators showed themselves willing to bar areas like food, where the members of the Mercosur are very competitive.
Faced with this scenery, the process practically ground to a standstill in early 2007. Some meetings have taken place since, but with no concrete advances. The declaration shows that, up to now, there has been "substantial progress in negotiations and [the leaders of both blocs] have pointed out the need to explore creative solutions to the matter", which has remained at the same point for two years.
In the document, the heads of state "reaffirm their engagement with free trade" and stated that it "should not contribute just for the creation of business opportunities, but also for expansion of relations between Arabs and South Americans".
*Translated by Mark Ament
