DAMMAM: Two members of the Saudi Shoura Council are attending the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (WTO) being held in Geneva March 21 to 22. The two Shoura Council delegates to the conference are Najeeb A.R. Al-Zamil and Osama Kurdi. “We are attending this conference with the objectives of widening Saudi Arabia's role in the WTO and of druming up support for our membership and inclusion in the steering committee of the conference,” Al-Zamil told Saudi Gazette in a telephone interview. The steering committee is composed of around 30 representatives from various member parliaments of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the European Parliament and other international organizations, including the Saudi Shoura Council. About 400 parliamentarians are attending the conference. “We are hopeful that Saudi Arabia will be elevated to the steering committee, given our dynamic role now in the global community of nations,” Al-Zamil said. The holding of the conference is intended to provide the latest developments in the global economy, trade, and finance to parliamentarians who are specialized in international trade. During the two-day conference, delegates will be briefed on the recent developments in the Doha Round of negotiations. The Parliamentary Conference on the WTO is a joint undertaking of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament and is held annually. The conference has held six sessions. The first meeting was held in Geneva in February 2003.
