gE Blog Series: Business in the Middle East Part 3 - The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) trade bloc has six member states within the Middle East: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. The trade bloc was entered into force on December 1, 1981, covering goods and services as well as military trade between the countries.

globalEDGE, at Michigan State University, provides a vast amount of resources, statistics, and related information on GCC. The resources available on GCC include links to the China and Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement, European Free Trade Agreement and the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as the Singapore FTA Network: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GSFTA). Users can access these sites directly from the globalEDGE GCC resource page.

There is also a large collection of statistics provided on the globalEDGE site for the GCC trade bloc. These statistics range from balance of payments to the value of intra-group trade. These statistics are updated frequently to provide users with the newest data. Other information provided on globalEDGE about GCC is facts and site links for related agreements, a history timeline for the trade bloc, and additional data on the member states.

globalEDGE is here to provide users with access to international business resources and knowledge. Make sure to check out the other areas of the site under global insights such as insights by country, industry, or economic classification.