Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Supachai Panitchpakdi said that there is a “realistic chance” that Saudi Arabia will accede to the WTO before the end of this year in a speech at the Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF) on January 19, 2004.
“It is time for Saudi Arabia to take its rightful seat at the WTO's table and I should like to see Saudi Arabia playing its part in bringing the Doha Development Agenda to a successful conclusion,” said Panitchpakdi at the conclusion of his speech.
Saudi Arabia originally applied to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1993. With the creation of the WTO the demand was converted into the application to join WTO in 1995. Since then there have been eight sessions of multilateral negotiations in Geneva and a far greater number of bilateral negotiations. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
