Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it had narrowed differences with the United States holding up Saudi accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and said it wanted to join the group "tomorrow".
Trade Minister Hashem Yamani said he would meet US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick early next month for what he said would be a penultimate round of talks.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and one of the largest economies outside the global trade body, is still holding bilateral accession talks with four countries and also needs approval of a WTO working party before it can be admitted.
"The United States is the primary partner that we still have not signed," Yamani told reporters on the sidelines of an economic conference in Jeddah.
"(Zoellick) has been very helpful in instructing his own team in narrowing all the differences between us," Yamani said. "So my meeting with him will be to discuss the very few issues that may remain."
Yamani gave no details of the remaining obstacles and declined to give a date for Saudi membership. Last August he set an end-2003 target to complete the long-running negotiations, with an aim to join early this year.
Officials say the oil-rich kingdom is now seeking to conclude the talks by the middle of this year.
Comments
Comments are closed.