The meeting has
discussed the impacts of rising food prices, especially on NFIDCs and LDCs.
Geneva- June
12, 2022
Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea has taken part in the Arab
Ministerial meeting, held in Geneva, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the 12th
Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (MC12).
Chaired by Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid al-Qasabi, the meeting expressed
deep concern about the impacts of rising food prices and
supply chain disruptions on food security as a result of the combined effects
of the global pandemic and the current geopolitical challenges.
It also underscored the need for additional flexibilities to allow
developing countries, in particular Net-Food Importing Developing Countries
(NFIDCs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), to enhance their agricultural
capacities and agricultural regimes.
“Egypt calls for an
ambitious trade agenda and a unified Arab stand in the negotiations related to
achieving development goals in developing countries and least developed
countries,” Gamea said during the meeting.
The ministers affirmed that a peaceful, stable and enabling
political, social and economic environment is essential to accord priority to
economic resilience, food security and poverty eradication.
They, moreover, asserted their continued support for the State of
Palestine's request for observer status in the General Council and its
subsidiary bodies, and reiterated the importance of recognizing the Arabic
language as one of the official working languages in the WTO, as it is the case
in the United Nations Organizations.