Bali, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - In 2014, Yemen will become the 160th member of the WTO and will join the group of 34 least developed countries (LDCs) within the organisation.
On 4 December, the WTO ministerial conference in Bali formally approved the accession of Yemen to the ranks of the WTO, thus putting an end to the process of negotiations and deep reforms that was started in 2000. Yemen will officially become the 160th member country of this multilateral organisation after formal ratification of its accession protocol by the Yemeni Parliament. Yemen's accession aims to strengthen its insertion into world trade and to boost its attractiveness for foreign investment. “Yemen has been a nation of trade for hundreds of years. We intend to become reconnected with the world”, said Yemen's Minister for Trade Saadeddine Ben Taleb. (EH/transl.fl)