Saudi Arabia became Sunday (11 December 2005) the 149th Member of the WTO. It is the world's 13th largest merchandise exporter and the 23rd largest importer. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, at the conclusion of Saudi Arabia's negotiations last month, said its membership “paves the way for a stronger multilateral trading system”.
Saudi Arabia has concluded bilateral market access negotiations with all interested WTO Members. The latest revision of the draft Report of the Working Party was circulated in July 2005. The last meeting of the Working Party was held on 28 October 2005.
WTO General Council formally concluded on 11 November 2005 negotiations with Saudi Arabia on the terms of the country’s membership to the WTO.
