The second round of negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Japan will be held from 30 June to 4 July 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is participating under the leadership of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, represented by H.E. the Deputy Governor for International Organizations and Agreements, Mr. Fareed bin Saeed Al-Asaly.

The second round of negotiation will cover a range of topics, including trade in goods, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, services texts, financial services, telecommunication services, movement of natural person, intellectual property, dispute settlement, general provisions of the agreement, rules of origin, and trade facilitation. The negotiations will be preceded by coordination meetings of the GCC technical negotiating teams on 29 June 2025.

The round also aims to continue discussions on the proposed texts between both the GCC and Japanese sides, explore the commercial offers and trade ambitions of both parties, and built trust and partnership by identifying areas of cooperation and coordination. This will pave the way for reaching a comprehensive final agreement in the upcoming negotiation round.

This round follows the first round of negotiations, which was held in December last year in Riyadh during which the parties exchanged draft texts and proposals, in preparation for continuing the negotiations and working toward their conclusion at the earliest possible opportunity. 

The Saudi delegation includes representative from fourteen government entities, namely: the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Economy and Planning, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, the Saudi Export Development Authority, the Communications, Space and Technology Commission, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, and the Saudi Central Bank.

It is worth noting that the Saudi negotiating team, led by GAFT, oversees and monitors the progress of trade negotiations to ensure alignment with the Kingdom’s trade objectives and policies, represents the Kingdom’s negotiating position, and coordinates with countries that share similar or aligned approaches in international trade.