JEDDAH, 30 October 2005 — A prominent member of the Saudi negotiating team yesterday commended the big role played by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in speeding up the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization.
“King Abdullah’s excellent relations with leaders of the United States, Britain and France were the main factor that won the Kingdom WTO accession,” said Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Salman, assistant minister of petroleum and minerals.
Prince Abdul Aziz, who returned to Riyadh yesterday after attending a key meeting of the WTO working team in Geneva on Friday, said King Abdullah’s meeting with US President George W. Bush in his Texas ranch in April, while he was crown prince, had facilitated the Kingdom’s WTO entry. Before the king’s visit by two weeks, Prince Abdul Aziz was holding intense meetings with US officials to reach agreements on major points. “The American side approved our requests,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia had received from the US more concessions than any other country, which joined the organization.
The WTO working team, including all major trading nations, on Friday approved the final package of Saudi entry terms, paving the way for the Kingdom’s full membership in the body. Following the meeting, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said Saudi Arabia was on the threshold of the organization.
Prince Abdul Aziz said the three main topics for negotiations with the US side were issues related to companies and government institutions; insurance; and gas. “All the issues were resolved, by the grace of God and with the support of King Abdullah, who was personally following up accession talks,” he added. He said the negotiations on gas prices with the European Union had also taken a lot of time. “Here also the role played by the king was crucial,” the prince pointed out. King Abdullah contacted British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country is the current chairman of the European Union, and convinced him of the gas prices inside the Kingdom and that it would not affect foreign investment in the sector.
Prince Abdul Aziz commended the support extended by Britain for the Kingdom’s WTO accession, adding that it was much more than expected. He also noted the roles played by French President Jacques Chirac and the French foreign trade minister as well as the European commissioner in support of the Kingdom’s WTO accession, adding that this would strengthen Saudi Arabia’s trade relations with Europe.
Commerce and Industry Minister Hashem Yamani, who led the Saudi negotiating team, called Friday’s endorsement by the WTO working team as “a victory for the principles and objectives of the multilateral trading system.” Yamani told the final working session that his country had sought WTO membership “because we pride ourselves in having an open and liberal trade regime and believe in market mechanism” as a means to growth and development.