DAMMAM, 29 January 2007 — The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) in a recent study urged the Arab countries to accelerate their efforts to set up regional trade organizations.
The study prepared by Adel Khalil, an economic expert at the CAEU, said the regional trade organizations could be established with increased coordination and cooperation between the Arab countries on the one hand and by their active participation in the World Trade Organization on the other.
The study emphasized the need for expanding the membership base in the common market for Arabs. Another immediate requirement for the implementation of the common market was the mechanism to compensate for the losses the countries and sectors might have suffered by the emergence of the free trade zone, Arab Monetary Fund and the common market.
The volume of mutual trade among the Arabs could be enhanced by making use of the special status they recognize among themselves. They could also focus on manufacturing commodities which were in high demand in their region. They should also give special stress on developing roads, telecommunication, electric power, and water supply besides promoting the private sector investments, the study said. The study demanded that the various Arab trade federations should strive for change and progress in the region by providing the necessary data base, simplified process of technology transfer to less advanced countries. They should also take steps to develop human resources and found research centers.
The study identified various obstacles in the way of establishing the Arab free trade zone. One of them is the lack of genuine efforts on the part of the Arab countries to complete the formalities required for their accession to the WTO. Their accession to the WTO would simplify the formation of the Arab common market and free trade zone because the membership of the WTO insists on unified regulations in the matter of commodities and services, intellectual property rights and commercial ethics. It would prompt the Arab countries to increase their bilateral trade. Fulfillment of the conditions laid down for the WTO accession would, undoubtedly, simplify the Arab efforts to form their own common market and other trade organizations.
The study also stressed the helping role to be taken by the current Arab members in the WTO. They should offer the necessary technical assistance to other Arab countries aspiring to be members in the international organization. The study also pointed out the importance of the Arab member countries in the WTO to make coordinated demands from the advanced countries to open up their markets for the exports of the Arab countries. The advanced countries should abandon their practice of adopting protective measures and market flooding against the developing countries.
