2024-07-17 10:18:25
After a 16-year hiatus, Iraq announced the resumption of negotiations to join the World Trade Organization.
The Iraqi Minister of Trade, Athir Al-Ghariri, who is the head of the Iraqi team concerned with joining the World Trade Organization, announced “the start of preliminary meetings to negotiate Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization after a hiatus that lasted for more than 16 years.”
The Director General of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Riyadh Fakher Al-Hashemi, confirmed that “the Iraqi negotiating teams have begun their preparatory meetings at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, in preparation for the third meeting of the working group on Iraq’s accession.”
The Iraqi Ministry of Trade said in a statement, “The third official meeting of the working group, which will be chaired by the Minister of Trade as a representative of Iraq, will witness a review of the files and documents completed by the National Committee concerned with accession.”
According to the statement, “The first preparatory meeting was held at the organization’s headquarters with the Director of the Accession Department and the organization’s experts in goods, services and intellectual property, and discussed the most important files and documents submitted by Iraq in the previous stage.”
The statement stressed, “This is the first time that the Iraqi negotiating team has reached this level of experience in the field of negotiation, which reflects the development of their capabilities and efficiency in dealing with complex issues related to membership in the World Trade Organization.”
It is noteworthy that Iraq joined the World Trade Organization as an observer in 2004, and in 2009, it stopped attending meetings and the matter reached the point of its exclusion from the organization.
The permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the organization, Saqr Al-Muqbil, who is responsible for the file of Iraq’s accession, said during his visit to Iraq last January, “Through continuous work and with the help of Saudi Arabia, Iraq returned as an observer to the organization.”
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2024-07-17 10:18:25