Advisor: Iraq needs to regulate its economy to be a member in WTO

Monday, April 5th 2010 2:03 PM

Baghdad, April 5 (AKnews) - "Iraq needs a new study for its economic system to be a member in the World Trade Organization (WTO)," an official in the Iraqi Finance Ministry said today.

"The Iraqi committee gave its final results about the Iraqi acquisition of the membership in the World Trade," The Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry, Abdul Alim Kadhim, told The Independent National News Agency of Kurdistan (AKnews)

"The Committee called for reducing the difference between the U.S. dollar and the Iraqi dinar, activate the role of the private sector, open the world markets in Iraq with customs on imported goods that commensurate with the economic laws applied in the country," he added

The Iraqi team to annex Iraq to the WTO was formed on December 13, 2004, and it presented a memorandum to join the organization on September 16, 2005. Iraq became an observer in the WTO on January 24, 2007, and the meetings of the first round of the Working Group began in 2007, followed by a second round in 2008, and the third and last round was in 2009.

"The organization called Iraq to pay half of its debts, in order to be a member in the WTO which will improve the economic and commercial situation in the country," Kadhim pointed out.

He stressed on the need of improving the Iraqi economy according to modern economic frameworks found at the present time among the economically developed countries.

The World Trade Organization WTO was formed according to Bretton Woods convection at the end of 1944 in the United States, accompanied by the formation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

It includes approximately 150 countries and has several functions that aim to remove the distortions found in the trade patterns between the States and the establishment of multilateral trading system more stable and more opened and has the ability to predict, in addition to addressing the customs and non customs barriers, as well as addressing the communication problems, building services, and address the matters pertaining to the international investment, and resolve the international trade disputes.

It also aims to expand the exchange of goods through the reduction of customs and opening world markets for goods and services (except oil).

The organization doesn't belong to the United Nations system, and it depends on negotiating mechanisms based on business partnerships and not on voting in the decision-making. Thus it sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails in its negotiations and it tries to impose the liberalization on trade policies of member countries, and to stay away from governmental intervention in the private sector.

Rn/SH (AKnews)


http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/131984


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