H.E. Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sayed, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, participated today, Thursday, 12 March 2026, in the coordination meeting of Arab Ministers of Trade, held via video conference, as part of efforts to coordinate Arab positions ahead of the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), scheduled to take place in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
In his remarks, His Excellency emphasized that the meeting comes amid significant global economic challenges and a complex geopolitical landscape, which necessitates strengthening coordination and joint action among members of the Arab group to safeguard their shared interests. He also stressed the importance of supporting a rules-based, transparent, and fair multilateral trading system anchored in the World Trade Organization.
His Excellency noted that the State of Qatar’s positions align with the draft Arab ministerial statement, reaffirming its support for efforts to reform the WTO and restore the effectiveness of the dispute settlement system, thereby enhancing the stability and predictability of the global trading system. He also stressed the importance of ensuring uninterrupted access to food and agricultural inputs, avoiding unjustified export restrictions, and safeguarding the rights of developing countries and net food-importing developing countries to adopt necessary measures to ensure their food security.
His Excellency welcomed the entry into force of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and reaffirmed Qatar’s support for completing the second phase of negotiations related to the agreement. He also reiterated the State of Qatar’s support for extending the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions until the Fifteenth WTO Ministerial Conference, as well as its endorsement of integrating the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and the E-commerce Agreement into the WTO’s legal framework.
Within the context of Arab priorities, His Excellency renewed Qatar’s support for adopting Arabic as one of the official working languages of the World Trade Organization, facilitating the accession of Arab countries to the organization, and granting observer status to both the League of Arab States and the State of Palestine based on technical merit and without politicization.
In conclusion, His Excellency expressed the State of Qatar’s full support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s proposal to host the Fifteenth WTO Ministerial Conference in Riyadh in 2028, expressing confidence that the event would represent an important milestone in the WTO’s journey and strengthen its role in supporting global trade.
The meeting also discussed several topics related to preparations for the Fourteenth Ministerial Conference, including WTO reform, strengthening the dispute settlement system, food security and agriculture issues, e-commerce, and the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
