New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) The free trade agreement that India and Gulf countries hope to sign will give Indian firms greater access to the $1-trillion market in the Middle East, apart from a cost-competitive route to western economies like the US, a senior executive of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board has said.
“The six GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries are a $1-trillion market. This region is going to contribute sizeably to global economic growth,” said the board’s chief operating officer Kamal Ahmed here Monday.

“Bahrain is located at the heart of the Gulf, and is connected to two big economic zones, Saudi Arabia and Oman,” Ahmed said at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) India Economic Summit being held in the national capital.

As per the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), India has seen a four-fold increase in trade with GCC countries over the last five years.

With negotiations over the GCC Free Trade Agreement to be concluded soon, trade volume could increase to over $40 billion by 2010.

Bahrain is seeking to attract Indian companies from sectors that will provide high value services like information and communications technology and financial services, apart seeking to improve its non-oil trade with India.

It is also stepping up efforts to attract more professional talent.

“In the past five years, we issued about 500,000 work permits to overseas professionals. Of course this included workers also,” Ahmed said.

“Though this number may drop, we will still continue to look for overseas talent.”

Besides attending the WEF summit, Ahmed is also chairing a road show that he will be taking to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai, besides Delhi, and which will showcase the benefits of establishing a base in Bahrain for Indian companies.