Today, His Excellency the Minister of Commerce, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, chaired the work of the meeting of trade ministers in the Arab countries preparatory for the twelfth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, which is scheduled to be held in Geneva during the period from 30 November to 03 December 2021, with the participation of His Excellency the Governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, Mr. Abdul Rahman bin Ahmed Al-Harbi.
In his speech, the Minister of Commerce welcomed the participants in the virtual meeting organized by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its capacity as coordinator of the Arab group in the World Trade Organization, in order to coordinate the positions of the Arab group on general issues and issues of common concern within the framework of the World Trade Organization.
Dr. Al-Qasabi stressed the importance of highlighting the vital and active role that the Arab Group plays in international and economic organizations, especially in the World Trade Organization, expressing the interests and priorities of Arab countries in these difficult circumstances, economic and trade challenges, and mitigating the effects and repercussions of the Corona pandemic on the countries’ economies.
He said: "A joint ministerial statement was issued containing consensual and common visions for Arab countries on various public and negotiating issues within the framework of the World Trade Organization".
The ministerial statement included stressing the necessity of facilitating and accelerating the accession of Arab countries to the organization, the importance of technical assistance and capacity building for developing and least developed countries, appointing the League of Arab States as an observer in the World Trade Organization, and supporting the request of the State of Palestine to be appointed as an observer in the World Trade Organization, and the importance of including the Arabic language as an official working language in the organization.
It also included emphasizing the principles and objectives of the Marrakesh Agreement established for the World Trade Organization and the commitment to the success of the ministerial conference to ensure the achievement of results that serve the interests of the Arab group, and the importance of reform in the organization to ensure the preservation of core values and contribute to strengthening the multilateral trading system, and the opportunities available in the context of electronic commerce, and small and medium sized enterprises.
The statement stressed the importance of the World Trade Organization’s role in responding to the repercussions of the Corona pandemic and its economic and social effects on all countries of the world, and stressing the need for vaccines to be delivered fairly, in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices to the least developed countries, and on the importance of negotiating topics such as fisheries, agriculture, special and differential treatment to serve the interests of developing and least developed Arab countries.