Saudi to chair WTO's Trade Policy Review Body 2023-24

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to World Trade Organisation, Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel, has been selected to chair WTO's Trade Policy Review Body for 2023-2024, Arab News reported.

Thus Almoqbel became the first Arab ambassador to the WTO to preside over the Trade Policy Review Body.

The review body will work to increase the efficiency of the multilateral trading system's operation by stepping up transparency of the WTO member's trade policies. All members of the international trade organisation will have to get reviewed every two to six years under the system.

WTO periodically release reports on the global economy, which include elaborated papers examining the trade policies and practices of each of its members. It also includes descriptions of the trade policymaking institutions as well as the macroeconomic environment.

Now, Saudi Arabia's new position at the Trade Policy Review Body will strengthen its leadership position within the WTO. The Kingdom, in addition to being the Arab group's organisation coordinator, has presided over the Council for Trade in Services, the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the Working Group on Transfer of Technology, and the Committee for Balance of Payments Restrictions in previous years, Arab News reported.