RIYADH — The 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Sunday. On behalf of Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Foreign Trade (GAFT) Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, the Kingdom’s delegation to the four-day conference was headed by Fareed Al-Asaly, deputy governor for International Organizations and Agreements at the GAFT.Addressing the conference, Al-Asaly affirmed Saudi Arabia’s full support for the WTO’s reform efforts, including dispute settlement and improving food security for developing countries. Saudi Arabia also reiterated its support for all the fundamentals of development, particularly special and differential treatment for developing countries and least developed countries. In his speech, Al-Asaly emphasized the importance of facilitating and expediting accession procedures for countries to the organization, which would contribute to their integration into global trade and value chains. Saudi Arabia also reaffirmed its support for extending the duty-free practice on electronic shipments and for the adoption of the Trade Facilitation for Development Agreement within the WTO. The conference discussed topics on its agenda that related to WTO reform, agriculture, fisheries, development issues and least developed countries, the e-commerce work program, the inclusion of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and the e-commerce agreement, the extension of exemptions for trade-related intellectual property measures, and the accession of several countries to the organization. On the sidelines of the conference, Al-Asaly met with the New Zealand Minister of Trade, Investment, and Agriculture Todd McClay; Ethiopian Minister of Trade and Regional Integration Dr. Kassahun Gofe; Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political and Economic Diplomacy Hadera Abera Admassu; Austrian Deputy Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism Dr. Stefan Gruber; Special Advisor to Indonesian Minister of Trade and Head of the Indonesian Delegation to the conference Johni Martha; Indian Secretary of Commerce Rajesh Agarwal; and Saudi Ambassador to Cameroon Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi. It is noteworthy that the Kingdom’s trade volume with member states of the World Trade Organization reached approximately $537 billion, while its exports amounted to nearly $305 billion during 2024.
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