"For Saudi Arabia, the importance of accession to the WTO is to join the world trade system which will benefit the Kingdom," Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce and Industry Hashim A. Yamani said Sunday.

Saudi Arabia became the 149th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Dec. 11. It is the first time for Saudi Arabia to attend the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong as a full member. The week-long Conference will wind up later Sunday.

In an interview with Xinhua, Yamani said Saudi Arabia has made economic infrastructure adjustments and economic system transformation in line with the WTO rules. For Saudi Arabia, it is an opportunity to promote the Saudi products to be more competitive in international markets and to be more attractive for foreign investments.

He said the world multilateral trade system is not strange to Saudi Arabia. The total amount of Saudi Arabia's commodity import and export as well as service trade accounts for 70 percent of GDP, which is a relatively high percentage among the WTO members.

Yamani denied the reports saying that Saudi Arabia made a lot of concessions in exchange for accession to the WTO. He said, "If it had been so, it would not have taken 12 years for accession negotiations. Four or five years would have been enough."

He said his country has safeguarded its interests to the maximum extent in the negotiations. In the areas of commodities, service trade and market openness, Saudi Arabia sticks to its aspirations of upholding principle and maintaining its interests.

As the world's largest oil exporting country, Yamani said, " Saudi Arabia has committed to stability of the world oil market. This policy will remain unchanged."

The Saudi minister said his country will play an active role in protecting oil sources for countries in the world and make greater contribution to the world economy.

He expressed the hope that the world oil prices should be maintained at a reasonable level, not only beneficial to the consumers but also acceptable to the producers.

Yamani emphasized that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will make every effort to ensure the success of this Ministerial Conference, which will pave the way for the conclusion of the Doha Round trade negotiations.

On Sino-Saudi relations, Yamani said both Saudi Arabia and China are big economies. The two countries have broader areas for economic cooperation in which they not only have the trade potentials but also can expand their cooperation through mutual investment, such as in the area of petrolchemicals including construction of oil refinaries.

Source: Xinhua