Calls to Accelerate Arab Countries’ Accession to WTO

The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Twitter)
The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Twitter)
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Calls to Accelerate Arab Countries’ Accession to WTO

The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Twitter)
The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. (Twitter)

A joint Arab ministerial statement underlined the need to accelerate the accession of Arab countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Saudi Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi, who is also head of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Foreign Trade, chaired on Sunday the preparatory meeting of Arab commerce ministers, ahead of the 12th ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, which will be held in Geneva on Nov.20 -Dec. 3.

Speaking on the occasion, Qasabi stressed the importance of highlighting the vital and active role that the Arab Group plays in international and economic organizations, especially within the WTO.

“A joint ministerial statement was issued containing consensual and common visions of the Arab countries on various issues within the framework of the World Trade Organization,” Qasabi said.

The ministerial statement underlined the need to facilitate and accelerate the accession of Arab countries to the organization, provide technical assistance and capacity building for developing and least developed countries.

It also stressed the need to grant the League of Arab States observer status in the WTO and support the State of Palestine’s request for an observer status, as well as include Arabic as an official working language.



German Central Bank Chief: US Tariffs Would Eat Up German Growth in 2025

President of the Bundesbank, Dr Joachim Nagel, speaks during an interview at the G20 finance meeting in Durban, South Africa, on July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Rogan Ward
President of the Bundesbank, Dr Joachim Nagel, speaks during an interview at the G20 finance meeting in Durban, South Africa, on July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Rogan Ward
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German Central Bank Chief: US Tariffs Would Eat Up German Growth in 2025

President of the Bundesbank, Dr Joachim Nagel, speaks during an interview at the G20 finance meeting in Durban, South Africa, on July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Rogan Ward
President of the Bundesbank, Dr Joachim Nagel, speaks during an interview at the G20 finance meeting in Durban, South Africa, on July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

The Bundebank expects growth of 0.7% in Germany in 2026 but this could be eaten up if US tariffs of 30% threatened by President Donald Trump were implemented, the central bank's President Joachim Nagel told Reuters in an interview.

“If tariffs materialize in August, a recession in Germany in 2025 cannot be ruled out,” Nagel said in Durban, South Africa, where the meeting of G20 finance chiefs is taking place on Thursday and Friday.

The 30% tariff on European goods threatened by Trump would, if implemented, be a game-changer for Europe, wiping out whole chunks of transatlantic commerce and forcing a rethink of its export-led economic model.

“The outlook for the German economy has just improved, especially due to the fiscal program that has been announced and is now being implemented by the German federal government, which also sets the right accents: investments in infrastructure, in future technologies,” Nagel said. “But this uncertainty could significantly weaken a positive outlook.”

Also, German Finance Minister Klingbeil told Reuters on Thursday that the European Union should find solutions to its finances without using common borrowing.

Klingbeil said the EU had joint debt in the last few years, but that was in a crisis situation during the COVID pandemic, he said in an interview on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Durban, South Africa.

“Overall, we need to resolve the finances of the EU differently than through a policy of joint debt,” he said.

“Fortunately, we are not in such a crisis right now,” he added.