Sunday, July 21, 2024
Members welcome Iraq’s return to WTO accession talks after 16 years
18 JULY 2024
ACCESSIONS
At the third meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Iraq on 18 July, WTO members welcomed the formal resumption of the country’s accession process after a 16-year hiatus, commending Iraq for its renewed political commitment and engagement in the accession process.
Iraq reaffirmed its pledge to join the WTO, highlighting significant economic and legislative reforms.
Mr. Atheer Dawood Salman Al Ghrairi, Iraq's Minister of Trade, led a high-level delegation from Baghdad at the third meeting of the Working Party. Ambassador Saqr Almoqbel of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who chaired the Working Party for the first time since his appointment last year, welcomed Iraq's return to Geneva after many years, highlighting the significance of the formal resumption of Iraq's accession process. “The Minister's presence here, the first since 2008, sends a clear signal that Iraq's accession process is now back on track,” he remarked. The Working Party held its second meeting in April 2008 and an informal meeting in November 2017.
The Chair acknowledged “the tremendous efforts by everyone, of course, starting with Iraq, but also members and partners, as well as former Chair Ambassador Omar Hilale of Morocco, to make today's meeting a reality”. He also referred to his visit to Baghdad in January 2024, where he met with senior Iraqi government officials, including President Abdul Latif Rashid.
Minister Al Ghrairi noted the importance of the meeting, which “represents a distinctive step for the Government and the people of Iraq towards becoming a full-fledged member of the WTO, a target we seek to achieve as a means to enhance our national economic strategy and integration in the global economy”. He further stated that despite ongoing security, political, and regional challenges, “the Government of Iraq remains steadfast in its commitment to pursue a reform agenda in terms of enhancing trade policies, boosting the business environment, and creating favourable conditions for foreign investment.”
Minister Al Ghrairi highlighted the special importance attached by the Government to aligning its trade policies and regulatory frameworks with international rules and standards and strengthening institutional capacities to meet WTO requirements. “The National Committee on Iraq's Accession has intensified efforts and made substantial progress in fulfilling the accession requirements,” he said. Ahead of the third Working Party meeting, Iraq submitted key negotiating documents, including its initial market access offers on goods and services.
WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang stressed the significance of this meeting not only for Iraq but also for the Arab region, which still has a large number of accessions under way. “As the largest region outside the multilateral trading system, this moment signifies a renewed opportunity for progress and collaboration towards accession for Iraq and hopefully other Arab nations aspiring to join the WTO, enhancing regional and global trade dynamics.” He also emphasized the importance of technical assistance and capacity building in the region, especially for Iraq in view of its status as a post-conflict country.
Members highlighted the significance of Iraq's accession for the multilateral trading system. Many Arab members emphasized that Iraq's accession would contribute to regional integration efforts in support of peace and security. Other participants in the meeting included observer governments and international organizations.
Iraq provided an update on its initial contacts with members regarding bilateral market access negotiations, noting that initial offers on goods and services were submitted in early May. The Iraqi delegation expressed readiness to further engage with WTO members.
The Working Party discussed various aspects of Iraq's foreign trade regime based on its revised Memorandum of the Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) and other supporting documentation. Iraq provided a report on legislative developments, highlighting its latest efforts to conform with WTO-related rules.
Next steps
The Chair invited Iraq and WTO members to intensify bilateral negotiations on market access, building on the recent contacts.
The Chair invited members to submit specific questions in writing by 15 August. He also asked Iraq to provide replies to members' questions and to submit other requested accession documents. The Chair asked the WTO Secretariat to work with Iraq to revise its MFTR, which will serve as the basis for continuing the examination of Iraq's foreign trade regime at the next meeting of the Working Party.
In addition, the Chair asked Iraq to revise its Legislative Action Plan and submit copies of WTO-related legislation to provide an up-to-date picture of ongoing reforms.
The importance of technical assistance was emphasized, with several members and international organizations offering support. The Secretariat plans to organize a Round Table to discuss Iraq's technical assistance needs to further facilitate its accession process.
The Chair suggested that the fourth Working Party meeting could be scheduled for the first quarter of 2025, contingent on the progress of the outlined steps.
RV UPDATE BY NADER FROM MID EAST, 21 JULY
Nader From The Mid East
You heard them talking about corruption. They're going to clean it up but it's going to always be there. It's everywhere. It's in America. It's everywhere in the world. It's in Europe. It's here. Corruption is corruption, the biggest corrupt people you cannot clean them cuz they have powers...You can't do anything against them.
What's going on in Iraq is really really good. Last month you see me talking about this month, about July. I said from now to July 8th you'll get some good news and that's exactly what happened. You see every proof of possibility to revalue or reinstate. I think it's reinstatement more than revaluation.
Lots of things happening...I see good news coming up this week so stay tuned...What's happening now it's good. I can say we are very close.
Nader From The Mid East
Things have been moving a little bit from here to the 8th of July. I hope we have an answer cuz that's what they shooting for. I don't know if it's going to be good or bad...It's more good than bad but I don't want to say anything about that cuz if anything happen you're going to say, 'Hey, but you said this. You said that.'
SUMMARY OF RV UPDATES OF NADER FROM MID EAST, 21 JUNE
I know they working on the exchange rate from here to the 8th of July. We will have some good news I hope.
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Article: "Iraq Bulks Up Gold Reserves, Inch Up World Rankings" Quote: "Their holdings have grown to 145.7 tons, a bump of over 3 tons compared to 142.6 tons the previous month. This increase...is enough to nudge Iraq one spot higher in the WGC's global ranking, landing them 31st place out of 100 countries."
Last week...I said Iraq government start a new white paper, it's all about the currency. From here to the 8th of July we should have an answer. What they going to do - Are they going to change the exchange rate or not? That's what I said exactly. They're working on it. I know they created a white paper on that. The CBI... government of Iraq, the reserve and the IMF are all working on the same page on those white papers. I don't know if it's going to change or not...
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The UN agreement, 2003 when they invaded the country, now they said the last day is next year 2025. They been talking about the end of the war and this is one of them. That is very good news.
We talk about sovereignty, that's one of them. It's good for Iraq. It's going to make Iraq stronger and happier...Sudani what he's talking about the coalition gonna leave in 2025...it's official.
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'Nader you said it was going to happen in June.' No I didn't say in June happen.
I said June they're a possibility for them to work on the dinar because each time they worked on him it's between June and August...They created a new white paper. They're going to start working on the exchange rate and I think from here to the 8th of July. We'll see what's going to happen.
Iraq wanted to de-dollarize. They start de-dollarizing in January but it didn't work for them too much.
The government didn't expect that to happen even by telling them that the dinar are stronger...use the dinar instead of the dollar for the benefits of the country. They tried everything. Now, they said that plan didn't work so they come out to the new white paper...They realized they cannot do nothing without changing the exchange rate.
They're going to have to go down in the exchange rate for the de-dollarization...They're going to have to change their exchange rate...Between now and 8th of July we should have an answer...
what they going to do? Are they going to change the exchange rate...keep it the same...go up...go down?
I think they're going to have to go down on the exchange rate a lot for them to take off the dollar from the street.
https://dinarevaluation.blogspot.com/2024/06/rv-update-by-nader-from-mid-east-1-june.html
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Iraq participates in UNCTAD technical meetings.. What is its relationship to international trade?
7/20/2024 Baghdad
The Ministry of Commerce announced today, Saturday, its participation in the technical meetings of the UNCTAD regarding the accession of Arab countries to the World Trade Organization in Istanbul.
The ministry stated, in a statement received by "Al-Eqtisad News", that it "participated today in the technical meetings organized by UNCTAD in Istanbul, which will last for two days, to discuss the experiences of Arab countries in joining the World Trade Organization."
Director General of the Department of Foreign Economic Relations, Riyadh Fakher Al-Hashemi, who represented the Ministry of Trade in these meetings, said, according to the statement, that "the meetings discussed the outcomes of the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization, the process of Arab countries joining the organization, and how Iraq can benefit from these experiences in its process of joining. The importance of trade in services in supporting the economies of Arab countries and enhancing their growth was also reviewed."
Al-Hashemi stressed that "Iraq's participation in these technical meetings enhances the experience of the Iraqi negotiating team and pushes it to move forward quickly towards achieving full accession to the World Trade Organization, as the exchange of knowledge and experiences gained from these meetings will have a significant positive impact on improving Iraq's negotiating capabilities and achieving its economic goals."
The statement indicated that "this participation is part of the ongoing efforts made by the Ministry of Trade to enhance Iraq's international economic relations, and to take advantage of the available opportunities to enhance economic and commercial development in the country." LINK
RV UPDATE BY PIMPY, 21 JULY
Pimpy
Yes, an article came out again about deletion of the zeros... "Removing Zeros from the Iraqi currency: Talk Returns and Possibility of Implementation" I keep telling everybody when they do the deletion of the zeros this is how it's going to work. You got a 25,000 dinar. Right now at the current rate you have .00076. It equals $19. The nominal, which is the [three zero] currency, they will remove the three zeros [25]...and it will take the three zeros off [the rate - .76]...That would be 25 dinar times .76 gives you $19.
Pimpy
I keep telling people, the WTO will talk about the Iraqi exchange rate but not in the sense that they're forcing or telling Iraq they have to change their exchange rate. That's not what they do. They just talk about trade and any hurdles that are between them and trade members. They can point something out, they can make recommendations, but it's not up the WTO when it comes to the exchange rate...I know people are telling you it's going to be on July 18th they're going to change the exchange rate. No they're not.
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