Bali - BNA
The Parliamentary Delegation today concluded its participation in the Parliamentary Conference sessions on the World Trade Organization (WTO) held in Bali, Indonesia. The Bahraini delegation was led by the House of Representatives' Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs' Chairman MP Sheikh Abdul-Halim Murad, and membership of Shura member Ibrahim Ahmad Behzad. the Conference reached 11 recommendations concentrate on dealing with all members of the WTO in accordance with the principle of fairness and transparency, particularly with regard to developing countries, as well as facilitating their joining the WTO and participating in trade negotiations. MP Murad emphasized that any system or agreement will not be acceptable or successful unless the interests of the developing countries parties taken into account. He added the poverty, unemployment and agricultural issues files are still topping the discussions during these meetings, which clearly confirm that satisfactory results have not been reached yet. Shura member Behzad expressed concern about the decline of oil prices which leads to incalculable damages to developing countries, calling on the WTO to develop alternative plans to reinforce the economies of developing countries from oil price volatility. He explained benefiting from entering the world markets provided by the WTO do not include the field of goods and industrial products, but also include services trades, such as educational, medical and engineering areas. In addition the Kingdom of Bahrain is distinguished with the field of services, including financial services, Islamic finance, telecommunication and tourism that achieve sustainable economic and social development, job creation and human resources development. The Conference discussed in its final session distributing business benefits, sustainable development, job creation and poverty alleviation.