HONG KONG, 17 October 2005 — Saudi Arabia will likely join the World Trade Organization before the group’s December summit in Hong Kong, the WTO chief said yesterday. Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, has been trying for more than a decade to become a member of the 148-member Geneva-based WTO, which sets the rules for world trade. The Kingdom completed negotiations concerning that bid with the United States last month. The Middle Eastern nation will likely wrap up its negotiations to join in time for the Dec. 13-18 ministerial meeting, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said at a talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong.