Riyadh–Saudi Arabia approved the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Minister of Trade and Investment Majed al-Qasabi issued a statement saying that the cabinet confirmed the WTO Facilitation Agreement and thus becoming the second Arab state that approves of a multilateral agreement.

Qasabi confirmed that Facilitation Agreement is one of the most important agreements of the multilateral trade system of the WTO and the first to be added after 18 years of the establishment of WTO.

Minister Qasabi explained that this agreement is important for ending the negotiation freeze in Doha Round. He went on to say that the agreement aims to reduce procedures and paper work required for import and export.

Deputy Minister for Foreign Trade and Head of Saudi Exports Development Authority Ahmed al-Hakbani said that studies showed that Trade Facilitation Agreement helps decrease international trade expenses by 1%, and increase the international income by 40 billion dollars mostly in developing countries.