RIYADH,
June 25 (IslamOnline.net) - The United States is the stumbling block to
Saudi Arabia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is
laying pressures on Riyadh to scrap its boycott of Israel to facilitate
the WHO membership, Saudi economists and observers said.
"Washington
stands in the way of Saudi Arabia's accession to WTO by deliberately
delaying the signing of a trade agreement between both countries,"
a well-informed Saudi source told IslamOnline.net, on condition of
anonymity.
Riyadh
should clinch bilateral agreements with a certain number of the WHO
member states to be able to join the international organization.
The
Saudi source said Washington has been pressuring Riyadh to abandon the
Arab boycott of Israel as a price for allowing the kingdom into the WTO.
In
two recent messages, a number of American lawmakers have asked US trade
representative, Robert Zoellick, not to allow Saudi Arabia into the WTO
until it lifts the boycott of Israel, Reuters reported on June 18.
Saudi
Arabia has recently concluded bilateral trade agreements with the EU and
33 world countries, the latest being India.
The
United States and Panama are the only two states with which Riyadh has
not inked the agreements needed to join the WTO.
Optimism
Nonetheless,
some Saudi economists are optimistic the kingdom will eventually thrash
out the necessary trade agreement with Washington.
"The
history of Saudi-American economic and political relationships indicate
there will be no obstacles to conclude the necessary deal with
Washington to join WTO," Dr. Habibullah Turkstani, professor of
economics in King Abdel Aziz University, told IOL.
In
recent press statements, Saudi Minister of Trade and Industry Dr. Hashim
Abdullah Yamani said Riyadh is making progress in talks with Washington,
anticipating the trade agreement to see the light in the near future.
Shari`ah-oriented
Laws
However,
the trade agreement with Washington is not the only hurdles to Riyadh's
accession to the WHO, Saudi experts said.
They
stressed that the world body wants the kingdom to amend its Shari`ah
oriented economic legislations, arguing the laws are not harmonious with
western legislations.
Riyadh
regards the WTO preconditions in this respect as "unfair",
said Saudi banker and media expert Farouq Saleh.
"The
kingdom has recently enforced several economic reforms that conform with
its constants," he remarked.
Dr.
Turkstani, for his part, underlined the importance of joining the WTO
for the future of the Saudi economy and in attracting foreign investors.
Saudi
Arabia is one of the four largest world economies outside the WHO and is
the only Gulf countries that is not member of the world organization.
