Arab News, Sat, Nov 02, 2024 | Jumada al-Uola 1, 1446
New Zealand reaches trade deal with Gulf states
Saudi Arabia:
New Zealand has reached a trade deal with the
six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE,
that Wellington said would open up major opportunities for Kiwi exporters in the
Middle East.
The trade pact would remove tariffs for 51 percent
of New Zealand’s exports to the region from day one and deliver duty-free access
for 99 percent of New Zealand’s exports over 10 years, New Zealand Trade
Minister Todd McClay said in a statement late on Thursday.
“Successfully concluding a trade agreement with
the GCC has been a long-standing ambition for successive governments for almost
two decades,” McClay said in Doha.
The statement did not specify when the trade pact
will become effective.
The agreement with the Gulf states comes after New
Zealand reached a trade deal with the UAE in September.
Trade between New Zealand and the GCC is worth
more than NZ$3 billion ($1.79 billion) annually. The Pacific island nation
exported NZ$2.6 billion to the Middle Eastern member countries in the year to
June 2024, which included NZ$1.8 billion of dairy, official data showed.