His Excellency Dr. TAWFIG FAWZAN ALRABIAH , Minister of Commerce and Industry stated that the historical agreement of the Member States in the World Trade Organization , which was concluded at the end of the Ministerial Meeting in Bali, Indonesia today, concerning the facilitation of intra-regional trade among countries and using of technology , will reflect positively on the Saudi exporters , and will enable them to deliver their goods to the target markets in less time and cost , and will increase the competitiveness of these products in the target markets in the world, emphasizing that this comes under the Kingdom's keenness to develop its export activity , and the launch of a competent authority in this area .
His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Industry said : "The Kingdom is always keen to adopt a modernized customs procedures through which the technology is employed to a large extent , so the positive effects expected from the adoption of the WTO Member States of the updated customs procedures set forth in the recent agreement will contribute significantly in providing and creating more employment opportunities , facilitate and accelerate the entry of Saudi goods and products exported to the markets of other Member States in the WTO" .
The 9th Ministerial Conference of WTO has concluded its works today in Bali, Indonesian after extending the meetings for one day to reach consensus agreement, the final results of the said conference included the approval of all Member States on the topics of " Bali package " notably the Convention on trade facilitation which is the first multilateral agreement approved by all Parties unanimously since the establishment of the WTO in 1995.
This agreement aims to facilitate, accelerate and finish the customs procedures on land, sea and air ports , as well as using technology intensively in customs procedures such as : clearance and payment of fees via the Internet , where the studies have indicated that the application of such provisions among the WTO Member States will reduce the clearance time in ports by not less than 20% per cent , thereby reducing the costs of import and export in the Member States , and then the final prices of goods in the markets which will contribute to increase trade exchange and international trade in general .
The agreement also included in its second part the texts relating to the provisions of the special and differential treatment for developing countries and the least developed ones, including the provision of financial assistance , technical support and capacity-building programs to enable those countries to apply the provisions of the Convention contained in the first part relating to improving the infrastructure of their ports , update their customs procedures , and the application of modern technology in these procedures.
It is worth mentioning that Saudi Arabia has participated with a delegation headed by His Excellency Dr. TAWFIG FAWZAN ALRABIAH - Minister of Commerce and Industry and head of the Saudi negotiating team in the 9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, where the delegation included many of the concerned government authorities relevant with the trade policy.
The Saudi delegation participated in group meetings and negotiating blocs held on the sidelines of the 9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO , including the newly joined countries (RAMS) ( whose membership includes 18 newly joined countries to WTO of which K.S.A. is one of them.
The conference discussed the draft agreement of trade facilitation and the outcome of the intensive negotiations during the previous months, and other topics related to the agricultural file, and a number of topics related to development.
During the meetings, the Republic of Yemen, had been accepted as a member of the WTO to become the member No. 160, at the same time, K.S.A. had submitted a request for admission of Arab League, and Palestine in the WTO as an observer.
MCI Minister and Chairman of the Saudi negotiating team had met on the sidelines of the conference a number of trade ministers of the Member States participating in the conference in bilateral meetings, as well as consultative and coordination meetings at the level of Arab Gulf states, Arab and Islamic countries.