|
Saudi Arabia will become the 149th member of the World Trade Organisation on December 11, just ahead of what promises to be a turbulent WTO ministerial conference in Hong Kong.
Entry terms were endorsed recently by the organisation's general council after 12 years of negotiations for the world's largest oil producer to satisfy accession criteria.
Hashim Yamani, Saudi commerce minister, said in Geneva that accession would improve business in the kingdom by adding transparency and predictability.
"This we expect to lead to more investment and job creation," he said.
Saudi Arabia is the world's 13th biggest exporter, mostly of oil and petrochemicals, and a big importer.
"One more heavyweight around the table [is] good news," said Pascal Lamy, WTO director-general.
The breakthrough came after Saudi and EU negotiators resolved disputes over insurance regulations and gas pricing last month.
Although a bilateral trade accord was signed in 2003, European officials claimed that Saudi Arabia's policy of fixing gas feedstock prices for domestic petrochemicals companies was tantamount to an anti-competitive subsidy.
According to Saudi officials, the EU backed down following reassurances that future pricing policies would adhere to WTO regulations.
In September, US Trade Representative Rob Portman signed the last of nearly 40 bilateral trade agreements that the Saudis have been obliged to negotiate on their path to WTO accession.
In spite of resistance from some members of the US House of Representatives, who demanded that Saudi Arabia improve its human and religious rights record in advance of any concessions, Mr Portman said that the agreement would pave the way for "greater openness, further development of the rule of law, and political and economic reform in Saudi Arabia".
Preparations for entry cause consternation among businesses fearing foreign competition and conservatives fearing dilution of the kingdom's Islamic laws. But the government has pressed on with 42 new laws and regulations designed to reduce tariffs and trade barriers, equalise treatment of local and foreign companies, and harmonise trade policy with WTO principles.
|