Saudi Arabia second country to endorse WTO treaty

Saudi Arabia has completed the process for endorsing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The Kingdom is the second country to endorse the treaty, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, local media reported on Wednesday.
Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed Al-Qassabi said on Tuesday that the agreement is one of the most important trade accords with the WTO.
The agreement seeks to ease the procedures and documentation demands that are required by authorities and government parties concerned with exporting and importing to bring them in line with world standards without compromising government-established monitoring systems.
This will include the removal of obstacles to commercial movements across borders.
He said that this will benefit small and medium-size enterprises that Saudi Arabia is very keen to promote in light of Vision 2030, adding that this will also increase transparency in the market.
Ahmad Al-Haqabani, foreign trade undersecretary of the ministry, said that studies by the WTO and World Bank support the application of this agreement and state that the new measures will reduce the cost of international trade by one percent.