We cannot deny that 10 years of preparations for joining the World Trade Organization have left Saudi Arabia better off. We should praise the government’s policy in engaging with world in this manner.
Fawaz Al-Alamy, deputy minister of commerce for technical affairs and chairman of the Saudi WTO negotiating team, said in an interview aired on Saudi TV that joining the WTO required his team to prepare 65 official working papers dealing with a range of complicated issues, from schedules for phasing in foreign participation in the local services sector to customs regimes to environmental policy. They had to answer more than 3,400 questions and prepare over 7,000 pages of information related to the whole gambit of economic issues.
The team visited 62 national capitals worldwide along the way. The team members participated in 365 bilateral rounds and 47 rounds of multiparty talks. They signed separate agreements with 38 WTO member countries, amounting to 512 pages listing 7,559 industrial and agricultural products and their respective status under the WTO regime. Fifteen service sectors and 155 subsidiary activities have been addressed. The Saudi negotiating team and the technical affairs team also contributed to 14 rounds of multiparty talks attended by 52 WTO member countries.
Despite all the great efforts by the government to join the WTO, there are still many questions in the minds of confused Saudi citizens. They are in search for satisfying answers from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. What did the government do and achieve during an entire year that passed since the WTO entry? In other words, did the Kingdom fulfill all of its commitments during one year of joining the WTO? Did it benefit or increase the income and decrease the costs by transforming challenges and opportunities into benefits?
Was the government able to prepare and train necessary human cadre in different public sectors and bodies professionally to deal with requirements of joining the WTO? What has happened in the area of disputes? The commercial justice system will definitely have an important and direct role in dealing with commercial disputes and problems that might appear between Saudi Arabia and other members in the WTO. Did the Kingdom approbate a clear five-year plan, for instance, to deal with this huge commercial event?
I hope that after one year of joining the WTO the Kingdom finds answers to these questions. Citizens are still suffering commercial fraudulence and counterfeit products.
I suggest that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry adopt the idea of issuing a booklet where they can clarify to the citizen the most distinguished accomplishment the ministry achieved. They must include the benefits the national economy and the local commerce gained through joining the WTO. They also need to identify, being a member of the WTO, the government’s future steps and plans. I suggest that the government form a committee or a special body that is connected to the Council of Ministers to look after affairs of the country subsequent to joining the WTO.
