São Paulo – Palestine intends to apply for observer status in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Brazil should support it through the endeavor, as signaled by the Brazilian minister of Foreign Relations Mauro Vieira. He convened this Wednesday (16) with the Palestinian minister of National Economy, Abeer Odeh, in the sidelines of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference, which opened this Tuesday (15) and will run until Friday (18) in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to the press office of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, upon being informed by Odeh of his country’s bid, Vieira lauded the initiative and said Brazil is ready to support it. In 2012, the United Nations (UN) recognized the Palestinian territories as a non-member state with observer status. Now, the country is applying for the same status in the WTO.
At the meeting this Wednesday, ministers Mauro Vieira and Odeh also discussed the good outlook for Brazil-Palestine relations. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry reported that they went over potential bilateral cooperation in trade and investments, education, science and technology.
They also mentioned the free-trade agreement signed on by Mercosur and Palestine, which could lead to new business opportunities. The two regions entered into the agreement in December 2011 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The Brazilian FM spoke at the opening session of the WTO’s conference on Tuesday and criticized the fact that no conclusion was reached in the Doha Round after 14 years of talks. “For developing countries, the Doha Round has been a collection of unfulfilled promises,” he said. He stressed Brazil’s and the G20’s efforts to advance the round and claimed there is an "unjustifiable asymmetry" between industrial and agricultural products when it comes to access to markets.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
