General Authority of Foreign Trade

The General Authority of Foreign Trade (GAFT) is the entity tasked with promoting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s international economic gains and safeguarding the Kingdom's interests in the fields of foreign trade. GAFT was established in 2019 and is headquartered in the capital, Riyadh. It has a legal personality and enjoys financial and administrative independence.

GAFT coordinates its business from its headquarters in the capital, Riyadh, and has a board of directors chaired by the Minister of Commerce. The board is GAFT's executive authority. It oversees, manages, and conducts its affairs, develops its general policies, and takes all necessary decisions to achieve its objectives. GAFT has a governor of the rank grade excellence, appointed upon the recommendation of the chairman. He is responsible for managing GAFT's affairs.

GAFT undertakes fulfilling its established responsibilities, which encompass the development of policies, strategies, plans, and programs relevant to its mandate, in collaboration with relevant authorities, to execute essential actions. This comes in addition to facilitating the Kingdom's exports' access to global markets, establishing new markets, eliminating foreign obstacles, and fulfilling the duties of commercial mediation. It also champions the Kingdom's interests in this domain, both domestically and internationally. GAFT additionally makes recommendations on customs tariffs and refers them to the appropriate entity. Moreover, it manages the Kingdom's international relations within the realm of foreign trade and serves as its representative in various international forums, bilateral engagements, regional collaborations, and international agreements, ultimately endorsing them.

GAFT oversees trade attachés and joint business councils in its interactions with various countries, contributes to raising the awareness of both the government and private sectors regarding the Kingdom's responsibilities in foreign trade and the evolving dynamics. It organizes conferences, seminars, and meetings that align with its areas of expertise, following established protocols. Additionally, GAFT conducts studies, research, and reports, formulates information rules in its field of operation. GAFT exchanges information with local, regional, and international entities, including the analysis and submission of economic impacts stemming from potential free trade agreements with countries and economic blocs, in coordination with relevant entities, in addition to proposing draft laws and regulations pertinent to GAFT's scope of work and amending them in accordance with established protocols.

GAFT serves as the representative of the Kingdom within the World Trade Organization (WTO), overseeing various responsibilities. These duties include coordinating policies and positions with WTO member states, engaging in bilateral negotiations with countries aiming to join the WTO, in collaboration with relevant government entities, monitoring the Kingdom's compliance with its obligations to the WTO and ensuring member states' commitment to the organization, handling commercial dispute resolutions pertaining to the Kingdom within the WTO, supervising the Saudi negotiating team within the WTO and its associated technical teams, and coordinating offers, negotiation stances, and matters related to global trade within the WTO.