Jordan Times
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Regional workshop opens to debate trade in services
AMMAN (Petra) — The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Tuesday launched a regional workshop concerning trade in services.The workshop, held in cooperation with the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the AMIR Programme, aims at raising awareness about multilateral world trade agreements and upgrading the coordination between Arab countries within the framework of the current round of negotiations on trade in services.
The three-day workshop will debate the general trade in services and its application to such sectors like finance, communications and energy as well as the movement of workers.
According to Ministry of Industry and Trade Secretary General Farouk Hadidi, experts representing the WTO and the AMF along with representatives of the public and private sectors in the Arab region taking part in the meeting will discuss the latest developments in the negotiations and the further liberalisation of services trade.
Underlining the importance of the services trade, Hadidi said the developing countries ought to benefit from the agreement with the WTO so as to market their products to consumers around the globe.
The workshop also aims at upgrading the participants' negotiation skills, said the AMF's representative Jamaleddin Barouk who noted that the meeting is bound to enhance the Arab states' negotiating capabilities.
Arab states, which are carrying out economic restructuring reforms, will benefit from the agreement especially if they are aiming to have a competing edge in world markets and to open the door for foreign competition.