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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)
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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.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.