Entitled “Adaptive Approaches to WTO Accession amid COVID-19”, the regional workshop was organized virtually in collaboration with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The event built on the work of the first High-Level Regional Dialogue on WTO Accessions, held on 8-10 November 2020, which included sessions related to the accession process — difficulties faced, experiences learned and potential solutions to assist acceding governments.

H.E. Mr. Azali Assoumani, President of the Union of the Comoros, delivered the keynote speech. He noted that the High-Level Dialogue represented an excellent opportunity to highlight the specific needs of WTO Arab acceding countries in order to be part of the dynamics of the global economic recovery. Comoros is one of the most advanced of the 23 ongoing WTO accession processes.

“In a global context that bears the strong imprint of the COVID-19 pandemic, with its multidimensional impacts, marked by the deterioration of macroeconomic indicators, the weakening of economies, particularly those of the least developed countries such as the Comoros, and the worsening of inequalities and poverty in certain regions, the theme of this dialogue … is fully justified and relevant,” said President Assoumani.

“Countries in our greater Arab region have suffered variably from the impacts of COVID-19 and have reacted differently. The pandemic has also exacerbated challenges that had already been present in the region for several decades. These include conflict, inequality, unemployment, poverty and underdeveloped social safety nets. It should be noted that the eight Arab countries acceding to the WTO are all in a situation of economic fragility,” he added.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala commended the Comorian government for its determination to finalize accession this year, and highlighted the progress in other accession bids.  Sudan's accession process formally resumed last July after a four-year break, while Iraq and Lebanon have been working to re-activate accession processes which have been stalled for several years due to domestic situations, and Libya has expressed renewed interest in starting the accession process.

The Arab region comprises eight acceding governments (Algeria, Comoros, Iraq, Lebanese Republic, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Syrian Arab Republic), accounting for more than one third of ongoing WTO accessions. Four Arab countries (the Kingdom of Jordan, the Sultanate of Oman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen) have acceded to the WTO since its establishment in 1995.

“With several Arab acceding governments expected to step up engagement at the WTO this year we should step up our joint efforts to support them. One potentially useful point of action could be to put together a study detailing the accession and post-accession experiences of Article XII members  from the region. This could serve as a guide for Arab countries working to revive their accession negotiations, and would yield insights for how best the international community could support Arab accessions or Arab countries' participation in the WTO more generally,” said Director-General Okonjo-Iweala. 

The WTO Secretariat will support the efforts of acceding governments, including through close coordination with global institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, and regional institutions like the AMF and the IsDB, said DG Okonjo-Iweala. Particularly relevant to this effort is the WTO Trade for Peace Programme as eight out of the nine Arab states still outside the WTO, and more than half of the countries currently seeking WTO accession, are classified as fragile and conflict-affected states (FCS). “The Trade for Peace agenda has brought to light how reforms associated with the WTO accession process can help countries build resilience and foster prosperity, peace and stability,” she noted. Her full statement is available here.

Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board at the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), expressed support for the collaboration between the WTO, IsDB and AMF in assisting Arab acceding governments: “We underscore the strong partnership with the WTO and IsDB to assist Arab countries to better integrate into the world economy and accelerate their process to join the WTO.”

Mr. Amer Bukvic, Director-General of Global Practice and Partnerships at the Islamic Development Bank, explained the partnership between the AMF and the IsDB and the work done to assist Arab acceding governments: “The cooperation aims to enhance the human and institutional capacities of the eight Arab countries in the process of accession, in order to facilitate their full integration into the multilateral trading system. As for the aspects of support proposed by the two partners, it includes technical support, training, and workshops, as resulted from the questionnaire that the Fund conducted with these countries in order to know their exact needs as a basis of designing a customized program.”

Mr. Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the WTO and Coordinator of Arab Group, said the world today is facing an unprecedented challenge because of the pandemic and its negative impact on healthcare systems and societies. “This makes more important than ever before to have more accessions from the Arab region to the WTO. It will open new horizons for those countries as it will give them access to international markets and will strengthen their economies and supply chains.”

Over the three-day event, the Regional Dialogue addressed specific topics of interest to Arab acceding governments, such as the role of the private sector, trade facilitation, trade in services and the Trade for Peace programme.  The challenges and benefits of WTO accession were also discussed during a roundtable session with chief accession negotiators, moderated by WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang. The various sessions allowed participants to increase their knowledge of the WTO accession process, accession-related rules, and the state-of-play of Arab accessions. It also facilitated acceding governments to share experiences and lessons learned from the accession process by engaging with the private sector in accessions negotiations.

More on WTO accessions here.