Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) All Set to Join the WTO by Year-End

[icymist]

Kingdom All Set to Join the WTO by Year-End

RIYADH, 11 September 2005 — Saudi Arabia appears all set to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of the year, following the signing of a key trade agreement with the United States on Friday, Commerce and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani said.

The agreement which was signed in Washington was the fruit of “nearly five months” of intensive negotiations and was “decisive” in Saudi Arabia’s drive to join the WTO, Yamani said.

<snip>

Asked about reports that the Kingdom has agreed as part of the negotiations that it will have trade relations with all WTO members, including Israel, Kalin responded: “I don’t have any details.” But, she pointed out, when you join an international agreement of this kind, any party must work within the framework of the agreements. The Arab League’s trade boycott of Israel, to which the Kingdom is also a party, has so far been a major stumbling block in the WTO negotiations.

(More)
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=69855&d=11&m=9&y=2005