JEDDAH, 10 September 2005 — Saudi Arabia and the United States have made substantial progress in WTO talks as a US trade official said yesterday that his country was now ready to sign an accord.
“I think, we are now ready to sign the WTO accession agreement with Saudi Arabia,” US Trade Representative Rob Portman said after meeting with US Congress members.
Portman said the bilateral agreement and Saudi Arabia’s accession to the World Trade Organization would spur political and economic reform in the Kingdom.
In order to join WTO, applicant countries have to resolve outstanding issues with member countries that have objections regarding an accession. “The United States has been working with Saudi Arabia for over a decade on its membership bid,” Portman said. “The negotiations have been tough given the complexity of the issues.”
The visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the US in April, when he was crown prince, and his meeting with President George W. Bush at his Crawford ranch brought about a major breakthrough in Saudi bid to win a WTO seat.
In a joint statement after the Crawford meeting, Bush pledged Washington’s support for Saudi Arabia’s accession to the WTO before the end of this year.
Portman said Saudi Arabia’s Commerce and Industry Minister Dr. Hashem Yamani had “worked hard to pursue real economic reforms that will contribute to peace and stability in the region”.
The Saudi negotiating team led by Yamani is to hold a final round of talks with US officials within a few days to sign the accord, Al-Eqtisadiah business daily said.
A declaration of the Kingdom’s accession to the world trade body would be made at the WTO conference in Hong Kong scheduled for Dec. 13-18.
