Saudi Arabia will lift economic boycott of Israel

A WTO working group approved last week the final package of Saudi Arabia's entry terms, to be discussed at a meeting of the body's ruling General Council on 11 November. The approval followed over ten years of continuous negotiations.
 
An official statement issued by the WTO said that Saudi Arabia had promised to lift its economic boycott of Israel, a condition for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). Saudi Arabia will become the 149th Member of the WTO, on 11 December 2005.
 
As a result of the negotiations, Saudi Arabia had agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to further liberalize its trade regime and accelerate its integration in the world economy, while offering a transparent and predictable environment for trade and foreign investment in accordance with WTO rules.
 
Saudi Arabia must open its long protected economy to the outside world, including fellow WTO member Israel. Saudi Arabia's participation in the Arab League boycott of Israel will thus need to be reviewed.
 
Yair Shiran deputy director of Foreign trade administration said last week that , “This is the first Arab state to join the WTO by explicitly lifting the boycott of Israel, including second and third-degree boycotts of companies in third countries that have trade relations with Israel.”
He added that when the Gulf states of Qatar, Bahrain, Oman , and the United Arab Emirates joined the WTO, they were not required to lift their boycott of Israel, but the condition was derived from WTO rules.
 
This time, Israel insisted on an explicit commitment, not one derived from WTO rules. Saudi economists expressed last week concern that many smaller firms are ill-prepared to battle in an open market. They added that:" even though we have been negotiating for over 10 years we didn't do anything to get ready".