Yemen hopes to conclude its 11-year-old bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) this year, enabling the Arab state to accede in 2011, a senior Yemeni trade official said on Tuesday. Membership of the body that umpires world trade would boost its economy and provide access to technical assistance from the WTO and its 153 members, said Farouk Kassem, director-general for marketing and trade in the ministry of agriculture. “For Yemen there was big progress,” he told Reuters after a meeting of a working party on accession. Asked when the talks would be completed, he said: “By the end of the year, hopefully.” As a least developed country (LDC), Yemen can potentially benefit from a fast
