{
  "id": 12607256,
  "title": "Saudi Arabia takes part in 71st GCC commercial cooperation meeting in Riyadh",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/saudi-arabia-takes-part-in-71st-gcc-commercial-cooperation-meeting-in",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-07T10:22:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ajel English",
    "slug": "ajel-english",
    "url": "https://english.ajel.sa/business/u40nhcwsn"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Saudi Arabia took part in the 71st GCC Commercial Cooperation Committee meeting held in Riyadh. The gathering focused on free trade agreements, consumer protection, and expanding small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The meeting, chaired by Saudi Commerce Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, brought together GCC commerce ministers. Attendees included GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and foreign trade officials from other member states. Discussions covered updates on free trade agreement negotiations, progress on GCC commercial laws, consumer protection measures, and subcommittee activities. The committee reviewed a report on the implementation of past decisions and examined SME growth in GCC nations. Al-Qasabi also attended the 12th ministerial committee on standardization and the opening of the Made in the Gulf exhibition. He participated in consultative sessions with commerce and industry ministers, chamber heads, and entrepreneurs. Off the record, Al-Qasabi met with key officials from other GCC states, including Kuwait’s economic affairs minister, Bahrain’s industry and commerce minister, and the UK’s trade commissioner for the Middle East and Pakistan. Saudi-GCC trade in 2025 amounted to about 268 billion riyals, with Saudi exports to the Gulf totaling around 186 billion riyals.",
  "summary": "GCC ministers discussed free trade agreements, consumer protection, and SME expansion at the 71st Commercial Cooperation Committee meeting in Riyadh.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Ajel English",
        "title": "Three Ethiopians executed in Asir for smuggling hashish into Saudi Arabia",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/three-ethiopians-executed-in-asir-for-smuggling-hashish-into-saudi",
        "published": "2026-10-07T10:35:20.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}