WTO urges region to make Doha talks a success

Dubai: The UAE's exports of goods and services account for 99 per cent of its GDP, reflecting its closest integration with the global economy in the Arab world, a World Trade Organisation (WTO) report said.

This is followed by Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman, whose exports to GDP ratio is in the 65-90 per cent range, Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO, said in a statement addressed to the Arab leaders gathered in Kuwait.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia rank among the top 20 trading economies in the world. "These numbers speak for themselves and do not require much interpretation. The Arab region needs the outside world just as much as the outside world needs the Arab region," Lamy said in a speech.

Economic reform is under way in many quarters of the Arab world, and so is deeper intra-Arab economic integration, with several Arab economies gradually moving up in the scale of the world's most competitive economies.

TheWTO yesterday urged the Arab states to prioritise the Doha talks. Lamy, in a message to the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit that ended in Kuwait yesterday, said, "Because international trade is so vital to your economies, the WTO must also be vital to you." He underlined the importance of the WTO as an "insurance policy against protectionism.

"Today, 12 Arab countries are members of the WTO, with several of them having been party to the WTO's predecessor accord - the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. These countries have played an important role in building the multilateral trading system as we know it today, and in shaping its goals," he said.

Another six Arab countries are in the process of joining the WTO, and include Algeria, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. They are all in the process of negotiating their terms of entry, with some of these accession negotiations being at very different stages. The most recent Arab member of the WTO, Saudi Arabia, no doubt has a role to play in assisting other Arab economies in joining the WTO; a process which can only begin with a thorough understanding of the WTO rule-book, he said.

"The importance of international trade to the Arab region cannot be overestimated. The Arab economy that is most dependent on imports is the UAE, whose imports of goods and services constitute 86 per cent of its GDP. It is followed by countries such as Jordan, Mauritania and Bahrain, whose import to GDP ratio is in the 70 per cent range. I would be remiss if I were not to mention that these imports have been vital to the region's food security," Lamy said in his speech.

"The Arab world's exports to GDP ratio also testifies to the deep international economic integration of the Arab region. Once again, the Arab economy that is most dependent on exports is the UAE."

He urged Arab states to enhance their participation at the WTO activities.

"A strong, co-ordinated and active Arab group in the WTO would no doubt help advance some of your economic priorities," he said.

The WTO Doha Round of trade negotiations, launched in 2001, is still under way. It includes many areas of economic importance to the Arab region, such as energy services, transportation and distribution services, and negotiations on trade facilitation to do with the reduction of customs red tape, to mention but a few.

"I ask that the Arab region prioritise these negotiations, and prioritise the formation of a strong Arab coalition on trade to vigorously pursue its interests through the multilateral platform that is the WTO," he added.

"Today as the economic crisis bites...and as protectionist pressures knock on our doors, we must recall the importance of the insurance policy against protectionism that the WTO offers through 60 years of global rule-making, and its dispute settlement system. Now is the time to strengthen the rules of international trade by concluding the Doha Development Round of negotiations."