Apart from the Palestinian problem, the only other issue that comes close to dominating public opinion in the country is the Kingdom’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Statements made by government officials and others about the Kingdom’s joining the body present an unclear picture. The state of the accession talks ranges from “good and accelerated” to “stalled and faltered.” Nine years have passed since negotiations first began, and still, there is no clear picture of the situation. The Americans, however, have recently ruled out any possibility of Saudi Arabia joining WTO this year.
If anyone is to blame for this state of affairs, it is we ourselves. There are two pressing questions that demand answers. First, why has the process taken so long? And how is it that 11 Arab countries are already full WTO members while another four are about to join? At the same time, a heavyweight country such as Saudi Arabia with all its economic clout remains outside the organization. Very strange and inexplicable.
Is the situation due to the absence of specialists’ opinions or the lack of clarity in the decision-making process? In October 2000, the minister of commerce said the accession negotiations were in their final stages and that in January 2001 the Kingdom would join the WTO. In January 2001, the head of the Saudi negotiating team said it was difficult to set a timetable or deadline for our accession. More than a year later, the minister said the Kingdom had come a long way but there was still some distance to cover. No one knows what the distance was. In August 2003, a senior WTO official said he expected the Kingdom to join before 2005. A month later, the deputy minister of commerce gave a different date.
After the signing of the agreement with the European Union, the United States remains the main obstacle, with the Americans insisting that much has to be done in order to finalize things. Naturally, the Kingdom will not accept WTO terms if these contradict the Shariah. There is no question of allowing pork and alcohol into the country. Nonetheless, we must admit that big mistakes have been made either because of the dominant one-sided thinking or because the views of experts were not consulted or taken into consideration. The result has been a string of unwise decisions that have landed us in a state of utter confusion.
