YEMENI DELEGATION TO FLY TO WASHINGTON SOON

SANA'A, April 22 (Saba) – A Yemeni delegation is to fly on Tuesday to the US capital , Washington, to complete the bilateral negations for Yemen's accession to the World Trade organization (WTO), the Weekly 26 September has reported.

Minster of Industry and Trade and Head of the National Committee to prepare and negotiate with the WTO Yahya al-Mutawakil Al-Mutawakil told the Weekly 26 September that the visit comes at the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

During this visit, the bilateral negotiations between the two countries would be completed in order to sign a bilateral agreement on market access within Yemen efforts to complete the requirements of accession to the WTO, al-Mutawakil added.

He expressed his hope that the agreement would represent a strong push towards the process of accession to the WTO due to the weight of the U.S. in the international trade.

It is expected that the Yemeni delegation after its visit to Washington to head for the Swiss city of Geneva for making around of bilateral negotiations and multilateral meeting to close the gaps in negotiating positions in preparation for the 8th meeting of Working Group in next July, which is expected to be the last, and to complete the file of bilateral agreements with key players in the WTO.

Few days ago, al-Mutawakil discussed with the U.S. ambassador to Yemen Stephen Seche arrangements for the visit of the Yemeni delegation to Washington.

The American ambassador emphasized during the meeting his country's strong support for the completion of Yemen's accession to the WTO, hoping to complete bilateral negotiations during the visit of the delegation.

Likewise, Prime Minister Ali Mujawar held talks with the U.S. ambassador over steps of Yemen accession to the WTO and the progress Yemen has made on the way to join to the WTO, which is expected this year.

BA