The Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) has called for the establishment of strong funding entities to support GCC exports to the world and removal of obstacles hindering the council’s exports globally.

It is priority for the FGCCC to remove tax and fee-related obstructions facing GCC exports to the EU, US and China, an official source at the FGCCC said, according to Al-Madinah.

Duties and taxes are weakening GCC products’ ability to compete globally. “This (recommendation to remove obstacles and have a huge financing entity) was proposed [along] with the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries,” he said.

“In the Arabian Gulf region, raw materials are well available and reasonably priced; the work environment is also adequate in terms of regulations, which attracts industries,” he said, adding that “GCC products that are globally competitive will not exist without strong funding entities.”

He said inter-GCC trade can be increased further. The volume of trade between member countries rose to SR431.25 billion ($115 billion) in 2015, according to a report by the GCC Secretariat General issued last year.

Since its inception, the GCC Customs Union has worked to remove trade barriers and exempt GCC-produced commodities from customs duties and treated these products as national commodities, the report said.