Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is still some way off as Riyadh has yet to fully liberalize the economy, the kingdom's commerce minister said in remarks published Monday, October 2.
"In spite of the efforts made in this respect, many steps remain to be completed" to fulfill conditions for joining the international body, Usama Al-Faqih told a conference for Saudi businessmen on Sunday.
"For example, Saudi Arabia is not prepared to open up the telecoms, audio-visual and some other sectors because they are not ready for foreign competition," he said, quoted in newspapers.
But the minister stressed that obstacles preventing the world's top oil supplier from becoming a WTO member were "purely procedural", adding that a huge effort was being made to revise trade and investment laws.
The kingdom vowed in April not to compromise its "unique status" as the home of Islam's holiest sites for the sake of joining the WTO. Riyadh has already signed bilateral agreements over WTO membership with 11 countries, but not with the European Union or the United States. All five other Gulf Arab states are already WTO members.
To facilitate WTO membership, Saudi Arabia has stepped up measures to liberalize its economy and attract foreign investors into the conservative kingdom, which is seeking to diversify its sources of income and boost the private sector's role.
Saudi businessmen at the two-day conference in the western Saudi city of Taif called for modernizing and facilitating procedures for foreign investment in the country, as well as government support for the shares market.
Faqih pledged that foreign investors will be treated on an equal footing with local investors and that they would have the option of whether or not to appoint a local agent. ― (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
