Emirati Economy minister says United Arab Emirates backs WTO accession bids by Palestine, Arab League

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, on Wednesday, led the Emirati delegation at a meeting of Arab trade ministers held in the Saudi capital to discuss the negotiations with the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. The Riyadh meeting comes four weeks before a WTO ministerial conference, scheduled in Nairobi, Kenya, between 15th-18th December. In Riyadh, Arab trade ministers discussed the Doha Round, the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO members aimed at achieving major reform of the international trading system. On Monday at a meeting of all WTO members in Geneva, Director-General Roberto Azevedo, who attended the Riyadh meeting yesterday, had outlined an initial process for developing an outcome document for the WTO’s 10th Ministerial Conference in the Kenyan capital. In a statement at the meeting yesterday, the economy minister reiterated that the United Arab Emirates' commitment to the multi-lateral trade talks is based on the principles of transparency, inclusiveness and the participation of the WTO members in any negotiations. "While the United Arab Emirates backs all efforts to achieve agreement at the WTO on the resolutions and recommendations of the Doha Declaration, it is not in favour of inserting new items that are outside the frame of the Doha Development Agenda or seeking a new track to replace the Doha Round," minister Al Mansouri said. He added, "The United Arab Emirates which is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Arab groups has vital economic interests within the two groups, and therefore backs the recommendations and priorities set out by Arab experts in Geneva." Al Mansouri expressed the United Arab Emirates' support for bids by Palestine and the Arab League to join the WTO as observers, as well as to back efforts to adopt Arabic as an official language at the international organisation. The November 2001 declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, provides the mandate for negotiations on a range of subjects, and other work including issues concerning the implementation of the present agreements. The negotiations take place in the Trade Negotiations Committee and its subsidiaries. Other work under the work programme takes place in other WTO councils and committees. The Doha Round is aimed at achieving major reform of the international trading system through the introduction of lower trade barriers and revised trade rules. The work programme covers about 20 areas of trade. The round is also known semi-officially as the Doha Development Agenda as a fundamental objective is to improve the trading prospects of developing countries. The Doha Round was officially launched at the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. The Doha Ministerial Declaration provided the mandate for the negotiations, including on agriculture, services and an intellectual property topic, which began earlier. In Doha, ministers also approved a decision on how to address the problems developing countries face in implementing the current WTO agreements. – Emirates News Agency, WAM - http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395286719382.html