Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Zarful Abdul Aziz said on Friday that his country is holding talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A bilateral free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates is being finalized, he told the Malaysian news agency (BERNAMA), expecting that the signing would be by the end of this year. Abdul Aziz noted that his country aims to hammer out a FTA with the six GCC member states as one bloc to strengthen trade relations with this region. He added that Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the region, is currently undergoing negotiations for a free trade agreement between Malaysia and the GCC countries. Malaysia currently has seven bilateral free trade agreements and nine multilateral free trade agreements with several countries, he said. The free trade agreement with the GCC countries will be the first of its kind for Malaysia with an Arab country, this reflects the rapid growth of trade relations with the A rabian Gulf States, he added. Source: Kuwait News Agency