Resolution of issues among Gulf states to help in early finalization of Pak-GCC FTA

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday hoped that the resolution of outstanding issues among the members of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the successful GCC Summit will also help in early finalization of the pending Pakistan-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Describing the GCC Summit held in Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia on January 5 as a positive development and a good-news for the country, Qureshi told a private television channel that as a brotherly nation Pakistan has been striving for it.

He said that Pakistan enjoyed close and fraternal relations with all the GCC member states especially with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due to religious and spiritual attachment because of the holy places of Makkah and Madina.

The Foreign Minister said that with the country’s human resource already contributing in the development and progress of GCC countries specially Saudi Arabia since the decade of 1980s Pakistan besides contributing in services sector can also help its brotherly nations in addressing the challenges of food security.

He also mentioned the quota of 100,000 work force offered by Qatar to Pakistan and said preparatory work in that respect was underway.

To a question, the Foreign Minister agreed that the recent telephonic contact between King Salman Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey did help in melting ice between the two brotherly nations.