Foreign Ministers from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states have agreed to commence negotiations for a free trade agreement with New Zealand, Trade Minister Phil Goff announced here Thursday.

The decision follows a visit by Goff to the region in March when he gained in principle support from ministerial counterparts in Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the negotiations.

"The chance to remove constraints on trade with the Gulf states is important for New Zealand", said Goff.

The six states, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, collectively took 720 million NZ dollars (450 million U.S. dollars) in exports from New Zealand over the last year. That makes the region only a slightly smaller market for New Zealand than a major market like Germany.

"Our traditional big exports like dairy and meat should stand to benefit, but so too will areas like forestry, horticulture and manufacturing. Emerging and rapidly growing areas such as services, ICT construction materials, medical equipment and education also stand to gain," said Goff.

"New Zealand officials will travel to the region within a few months for initial discussions on the coverage of the agreement, negotiating modalities and time lines.

This will be followed by New Zealand Government issuing a discussion document to consult with and seek views from New Zealand companies and the public.

Source: Xinhua