A recent survey of Dubai companies carried out by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed that Saudi Arabia is considered to be the most problematic member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to trade with, while Bahrain is the easiest in terms of customs and Oman is the easiest country in terms of finding trade partners.
Over 70% of Dubai companies reported that they have experienced difficulties with the Saudi customs procedures, and 60% said they have incurred delays in clearance to or from the kingdom.
In addition, 45% of those surveyed said they had encountered inconsistent fee structures and 28% have experienced variances in product specifications in Saudi Arabia.
The survey also showed that the GCC's Custom Union (CU) has given a boost to overall trade between the Gulf countries. 71% of Dubai businesses surveyed believed they had witnessed improvements in procedures under the CU, with 59% finding the arrangement made trade between the GCC markets more accessible. Intra-GCC trade has been increasing steadily over the past few years and reached the record level of US$34.5bn in 2006. In 2003, the six GCC states, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, signed a customs union agreement to reduce most external tariffs to 5% in an attempt to increase regional trade and lay the foundations for a possible monetary union by 2010.
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