Morocco Leading Iraq’s WTO Process

Agadir – The World Trade Organization (WTO) has praised Moroccan efforts in aiding in Iraq’s accession process to the organization.

The Working Group on Iraq’s Accession to the WTO talks, held on January 25-27, followed Morocco’s advocacy for the country’s integration into the organization.

Omar Hilale, Morocco’s Permanent Representative at the UN and the Chairman of the Working Group on Iraq’s Accession to the WTO, organized the January talks in Geneva. With the participation of several stakeholders from the organization, as well as various member states, discussions centered around advancing the negotiations on Iraq’s integration.

Hilale briefed WTO member states and stakeholders on the progress of the integration process, detailing the talking points of his meetings with Alaa Ahmed Hassan Al-Jibouri, the Iraqi minister of Trade.

For his part, the Iraqi minister of Trade expressed his gratitude to Hilale for the offer to organize a training workshop on multilateral negotiation techniques and WTO law for the benefit of the Iraqi negotiating team.

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Similar workshops for the benefit of Iraqi experts were held in Rabat in June 2018.

Al-Jibouri also reiterated Iraq’s choice to join the WTO, promising to accelerate the process to meet the Working Group’s requirements. Hilale, meanwhile, reassured Al-Jibouri of Morocco’s commitment to supporting Iraq in its negotiation efforts.

Representatives of the World Bank in Baghdad and Washington both welcomed the initiative.

The process of integrating into the WTO began in 2004 with the establishment of the Working Group to examine the membership application. It continued with formal negotiations starting in 2007 and finally stalled in 2008. With Morocco taking the helm as the lead facilitator, the negotiations were re-launched in 2017.

Morocco in recent years has emerged as a commendable model for diplomacy. 

From holding negotiations for peace and stability in Libya, leading Iraq’s accession to the WTO, to asserting its leadership in Africa, the country has made resounding diplomatic breakthroughs, earning a solid reputation in numerous quarters. 

One illustration of Morocco’s upgrading status is that the World Trade Organization considers the North African country as a crucial partner in Africa.