Oman eliminates obstacles to joining WTO
Oman, Economics, 3/22/2000

A high-ranking Omani official said on Tuesday that his country has eliminated during talks in Geneva the main obstacles before joining the membership of the World Trade Organization.

An economic expert at the Ministry of Commerce, Sayed al-Reyami, said that there are only secondary issues that need to be settled and that Oman had approved during the talks which were held in Geneva last February the WTO's directives concerning fees on agricultural, industrial, chemical and pharmaceutical products.

He stated that the pending issues are basically the right to trading and issuing legislation in the field of trade pertaining to individual property and customs evaluation, saying that his country, which relies on oil sales for most of its income, expects to settle pending issues with the WTO during the next three months.

Oman and Saudi Arabia are the only two states in the Arab Gulf region which are still outside the WTO. Officials in the trade sector expected that Oman's membership in the WTO will be approved shortly.

Previous Stories:
  Oman to set up oil trade center in Thailand   (2/24/2000)
  Oman signs trade agreements   (2/19/2000)
  Oman projects $ 50.6 million fund to boost bourse   (1/25/2000)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search