Saudi Arabia and Its Role in the Wto

A look at Saudi Arabia and WTO : Opportunities and Challenges :

As the world’s largest oil exporter, the 23rd largest importer, and the largest economy in the Middle

East, Saudi Arabia is a global trade power and as such the Kingdom’s absence from the World Trade

Organization (WTO) has been an obvious shortcoming in the global trade system. This was rectified on

11 December 2005 when Saudi Arabia became the 149th member of the WTO after over 12 years of

negotiations. In the process of preparing for membership,Saudi Arabia enacted 42 new trade-related

laws, created nine new regulatory bodies, and signed 38 bilateral trade agreements. When the Kingdom first applied for membership in the WTO’s predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1993, 75 percent of the Kingdom’s tariffs on imported goods were at 12 percent.

By 2003, 85 percent of tariffs were 5 percent or less, and the commitments made for WTO

membership will now bring tariffs down further To become a member, Saudi Arabia made major

commitments to reduce tariffs, open services sectors of the economy to greater foreign participation,

and to implement all WTO rules upon membership without recourse to transition periods. This means

that when Saudi Arabia became a member, it was committed immediately to an intellectual property

rights environment, a foreign investment environment, transparency in trade issues, legal recourse for

trade partners, and elimination of technical barriers to trade, all in compliance with WTO

requirements. In order to discuses the competitive advantages and benefits that could be generated from joining WTO , we will first highlight the economic indicators of the country and the general outlook. Saudi Arabia is known to be one of the main exporting market for oil with confirmed reserves representing about 20% of the overall reserves. The petroleum sector accounts for roughly 45% of budget revenues, 55% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. About 40%...