ACC24-2

The 12th China Round Table (CRT-12) on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System will be held on 24-25 February 2024, on the margins of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The focus of this Round Table will be ARAB PERSPECTIVES ON WTO ACCESSIONS AND THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM. The objectives of the 12th China Round Table are:
• draw from the experiences of original WTO and Article XII Arab members to help better equip Arab acceding governments to navigate the accession process through lessons learned. The importance of trade in Arab economies including how to best utilize WTO membership to ensure economic policy coherence will also be explored.
• explore how Arab acceding governments could benefit from economic growth and development by accelerating their accession process to the WTO, drawing on the key findings from the study "Best Practices in WTO Accessions for Arab Region: Lessons from Past and On-going accession in the region", prepared by the WTO, the Arab Monetary Fund and the Islamic Development Bank.
• host a special pre-launch of the upcoming publication entitled "Trade for Peace: An Integrated Perspective on the Role of Trade to Support Peace and Economic Development", edited by Mr. Patrick Low, former WTO Chief Economist.
• host a high-level session " Arab Perspectives on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System" with the participation of Arab ministers.