FTA - a passport of opportunities
Bahrain Tribune
FTA - a passport of opportunities
16 December 2005
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a ’passport of opportunities’ and it is up to the business communities of both Bahrain and the US to see how best they can use this opportunity, the President of American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), Samir Benmukhlouf, said yesterday.
Benmukhlouf, who was in the US for about 10 days with a high-powered business delegation from the Kingdom, termed the US Senate vote a major development for the business communities of both countries.
He said: "The US business has shown a keen interest in the opportunities for the US companies in Bahrain. We see the FTA as a gateway for the US companies to the Gulf."
Benmukhlouf urged the Bahraini side to use the AmCham platform to reap the maximum benefits of FTA and to get a clear access to the US market.
The Second Vice-Chairman at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Nizaar Al Baharna said that the FTA would prove a catalyst of development for Bahrain’s economy. He called upon both sides to establish a supreme committee on the FTA comprising prominent businessmen.
He said that the supreme committee should be charged with formulating a joint strategy as well as providing clear guidelines to the private sectors for future co-operation.
Dr Al Baharna said Bahrain’s private sector was facing a real challenge to redefine its priorities in line with the FTA opportunities.
The President of Bahrain Export Development Society, Dr Yousef Mashal, lauded the approval of the FTA and urged the private sector to avail of this major opportunity.
He said that unfortunately, private sector of Bahrain was not well-prepared to reap maximum benefits of this landmark treaty.
Dr Mashal said the wide range of political and economic reforms introduced by the Kingdom have had a very positive impact on the voting.
He said that according to a report issued by the US international trade commission, Bahrain’s economy (as measured by GDP) is less than 1 per cent of the size of the US economy, and Bahrain’s population is about 0.2 per cent of the US population.
Bahrain is a member of the World Trade Organisation, and has set its tariffs at rates ranging from zero to 125 per cent ad valorem.
"Bahrain has been liberalising its trade and investment regime since the late 1990s, including the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the US in 2002. Dr Mashal said under the agreement, Bahrain will provide duty-free access for US agricultural exports in 98 per cent of its agricultural tariff lines.
"The US and Bahrain will eliminate tariffs on any remaining products within 10 years. This trade liberalisation is likely to increase the competitiveness of US manufacturers and farmers in the Bahraini market. He said that under the market access commitments of the FTA, duties would have to be eliminated immediately on nearly all current bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products.
He said: "Bahraini firms and their affiliates in the US are likely to benefit from improved regulatory transparency and market access as a result of the FTA. Bahrain’s existing Schedule of Commitments under the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) only reflects commitments related to financial services, so the broad coverage of the FTA represents a substantial improvement over the country’s existing services trade commitments."
