[15 September 2007]

SANA'A, (Saba)- Industry and Trade Minister Yahya al-Mutawakel returned home on Saturday after an official visit to the Swiss city of Geneva for talks with officials of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on joint cooperation ties between Yemen and the organization.

Speaking to Saba, al-Mutawakel said that the talks had focused on steps of joining Yemen to WTO and plans and preparations to hold the 4th round of relevant negotiations between Yemen and WTO scheduled next October.

"We have discussed preparations to hold joint workshops to be attended by some Arab and foreign countries on the process of joining Yemen to WTO, the government's relevant programs and the integration of Yemeni economy with Arab and regional economies," said al-Mutawakel.

al-Mutawakel pointed that he had talked with the executive director of the International Trade Center for developing exports and officials of the United Nations for trade, in addition to officials in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on the commercial cooperation relations between Yemen and those bodies and means of enhancing and developing them.

YA/NS

Saba