Saudi Arabia Backs Iraq's WTO Bid, Citing Political Hurdles Cleared

Shafaq News/ Saudi Arabia on Wednesday expressed its support for Iraq's bid to join the World Trade Organization, particularly after the removal of political obstacles that had previously impeded the process.

In a statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the ministry's undersecretary for political planning, Ambassador Hisham al-Alawi, and Ambassador Saqr Abdullah al-Muqbil, met with the head of the Iraqi team tasked with negotiating Iraq's WTO accession, and his delegation, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Baghdad, in the presence of Hussein Younis, head of the economic department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement quoted al-Alawi as saying during the meeting that "the Iraqi government is interested in opening up to global organizations, and has a desire to activate Iraq's presence in international forums."

He explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working to strengthen regional and international cooperation alongside the relevant ministries in the government.

He pointed out that Iraq is endowed with natural and human resources and specialized labor in many fields who deserve to be provided with job opportunities, expressing his hope that Iraq's accession to such organizations will contribute to providing such opportunities by increasing private sector investments in light of the current openness and the government's plans to develop the economy and diversify its sectors.

For his part, the head of the Saudi delegation affirmed that the Kingdom sees Iraq as a country that has chosen peace and stability and is seeking to achieve economic development, pointing to the importance of Iraq for Saudi Arabia from an economic point of view.

The Saudi delegation noted that the Kingdom sees that the political obstacles that prevent Iraq from joining the WTO have been removed, stressing that the Kingdom's government supports Iraq's desire to join global economic institutions