The Shoura Council held here today its 42nd ordinary session chaired by its Chairman Dr. Salih bin Abdullah bin Homaid. The session was attended by Dr. Hashim Yamani, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Head of the Kingdom's negotiating delegation for the Kingdom's accession to the Organization; Abdullah Zainal, Minister of State, Cabinet Member and Deputy Head of the Delegation; Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Assistant Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for Petroleum Affairs and a number of the negotiating team. The Secretary General of the council Dr. Salih bin Abdullah Al-Malek said that the Council started its session with a speech by its Chairman in which he thanked all those participating in the great efforts for the Kingdom's accession to the World Trade Organization which will be announced soon. In the session, Dr Yamani gave a brief about the visit paid by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to the United States of America five months ago and the negotiations that had taken place in Geneva two weeks before the visit which contributed to enhancing the Kingdom's position in negotiations . Dr. Yamani hoped that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will participate in the coming ministerial WTO meeting in Hong Kong next December as a full member of the Organization. Concluding his statement, Dr. Al-Malek said that the Council voted for the Kingdom's accession to the Organization in accordance with the attached documents.
