Yemen reiterates its willingness to join the WTO

By Faisal Darem in Yemen
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-06

[KHALED FAZAA/AFP/Getty Images] Local products will have to compete with foreign products.

Yemen officials are hopeful that recent reforms will pave the way for Yemen to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this year.

The seventh round of the multilateral negotiations for Yemen's accession to the WTO concluded on January 28th in Geneva. During the talks, Dr. Yahya Al Mutawakil, head of the Yemeni delegation and Minister of Industry and Trade, reiterated his country's willingness to complete the negotiations to join the WTO this year.

"Yemen is going through a sensitive period and is facing security, economic and development challenges including the insurgency in the north of the country, the separatists in the south and the al-Qaeda threats," Al Mutawakil said, adding that these events have destroyed the economy and stifled development.

Al Mutawakil told Al-Shorfa before heading to Geneva that it is very hard not to join the organisation. "No country in the world can afford to stay out of the WTO," he said, "or else it will be at a disadvantage and the only way to limit these negative effects is to join it. It is obvious that the countries that make up the WTO have lowered the requirements for accession."

Al Mutawakil adds that, "The main issue in joining the WTO is to change our regulations so that they conform with those of the organisation. We have amended and established many laws such as trade laws, competition laws and intellectual property laws for this purpose."

Concerning the negotiations with WTO member countries, Al Mutawakil said, "We have already been through six rounds of negotiations and there are countries that support our application to join such as the United States and Japan. We are eager to speed up the process and put the final touches on it so that Yemen can join as soon as possible. Joining at a later date means that additional countries will have had the opportunity to join and that will make the negotiation process last longer."

Regarding the negative effects on Yemen's economy if it joins the WTO, Al Mutawakil believes the industrial and agricultural sectors will suffer the most because of fierce competition. "If the products in these domestic sectors are unable to compete with the standards, quality and prices of foreign products, they might lose everything. One example that comes to mind is China, which flooded the global markets with products of good quality at very low prices," he said.

Dr. Hamoud Al Najaar, Chief of the Coordination and Communication Office with the WTO at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, pointed out that "Yemen's accession to the WTO will open the way for international investments, will strengthen trust in investing in Yemen, and will allow the development and modernization of the local industries so that they become competitive on the global market."

He added, "The main benefits of joining the WTO lie in the opportunity to enter the markets of the member countries in a more organised way based on the multilateral trade agreements. The country can also take advantage of the treatment accorded by the most favoured nations that will no longer discriminate against Yemeni products."

Hamoud Al Bokheiti, chairman of the Market and Consumer Studies and Research Centre, said that joining the WTO has its advantages and disadvantages. "The current economic situation in Yemen shows that the country has a lot more weaknesses than privileges since the Yemeni products in the industrial and agriculture sectors cannot compete with foreign products because of product dumping," he said.

Fraudulent and fake products on the market are estimated at more than 50%, said al-Bukheiti, which could create difficulties for Yemen to join the WTO especially when it comes to intellectual property.

Yemen applied to join the WTO for the first time in 1998. It was granted observer status in April 1999.

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