RIYADH, 15 May 2007 — Neither Saudi Arabia, nor other five member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have introduced any anti-dumping laws against other World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries. At the same time WTO member countries continue to dump their products on GCC markets, said an official from the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) speaking at a symposium here yesterday.
According to the WTO agreement, members are required to sign agreements which specify that their products would not be dumped in another WTO member state.
The symposium, entitled the Investment Environment in the WTO through the Kingdom’s Agreements, at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was organized by the Saudi Council for Legal Consultants and was inaugurated by Prince Bandar ibn Salman Al-Saud, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and honorary president of the Saudi Council for Legal Consultants.
Speaking at the symposium, Sattam Al-Tayyar, senior adviser at SAGIA, pointed a finger at the GCC secretariat general for not being able to provide financial guarantees in this matter so that member states could start taking measures. He said that negligence by GCC countries regarding this matter would cause “huge losses” to GCC economies.
“Continuing negligence will increase negative effects on the economies of GCC countries,” said Al-Tayyar. “It will also prevent national industries from further expanding and discourage national economies from competing with foreign ones.”
He said there were many complaints from Saudi businessmen about foreign products being dumped in the Saudi market. He gave examples of carpets, poultry products, dairy products, ceramics and some petrochemical products. The contradiction, he pointed out, was that dozens of Saudi companies have signed anti-dumping laws in foreign countries that belong to the WTO while, at the same time, those countries were dumping products on the Saudi market.
Another official said the benefits of joining the WTO to Saudi business had been limited compared to the business communities in other countries whose governments had signed WTO agreements. The reason he gave was a lack of understanding of WTO laws and agreements by Saudi businessmen.
“The Saudi business community should recognize the legal procedures and framework concerning the Kingdom’s signing of the WTO agreement,” said Hassan Mulla, head of the Saudi Council for Legal Consultants. He noted that local businessmen should be aware of procedures that concern dumping, protection rights for Saudi products, legal ownership and ways of settling commercial disputes in the WTO.
The Saudi Council for Legal Consultants recommended yesterday the establishment of a special team consisting of legal consultants, officials from the Ministry of Commerce and concerned authorities. Thus, any commercial dispute which could arise in the future between Saudi businessmen and their foreign counterparts could be avoided.
The proposed committee would also have the responsibility of settling economic disputes by using WTO agreements between Saudi businessmen and foreign companies.
“This team would help Saudi businessmen and traders avoid getting into commercial disputes with states which have signed the WTO agreement,” Prince Bandar said. He added that several states had had economic disputes with other members of the WTO due to a lack of understanding of WTO agreements. “This has resulted in huge losses,” he pointed out.
Saudi Arabia formally joined the WTO on Nov. 11, 2005. The agreement was signed in Geneva by a Saudi team led by Minister of Commerce and Industry Hashim Yamani. As a result, foreign investors are now allowed to invest directly in the Saudi market.
Over the past two years, SAGIA had issued thousands of licenses to foreign companies to operate in the Kingdom. Saudi officials have also encouraged businessmen to rethink their ways of conducting business in the light of stiff competition from outside the Kingdom.
