RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/L/35
10February 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0275)
Original: English
REQUEST BYTHE ARAB MONETARY FUND FOR OBSERVER STATUS
INTHE GENERAL COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
AND THE COUNCIL FOR TRADE INSERVICES
Thefollowing communication, dated 2February 1995, hasbeen received from the
Director-General oftheArab Monetary Fund (AMF).
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Asyouknow theGATT Council ofRepresentatives agreed atitsmeeting on17December 1993
toaccord observer status totheArab Monetary Fund (AMF) atthemeetings oftheGATT Council
andtheSessions oftheCONTRACTING PARTIES.
Inviewoftheentry intoforce oftheWorld Trade Organization (WTO) asasuccessor tothe
GATT asof1January 1995 andintheabsence ofautomaticity oftransfer ofmembership and
observership status fromthelattertotheformer, theAMF would likehereby toreapply foritsadmission
asanobserver organization tomeetings oftheGeneral Council, Council forTrade inGoods andCouncil
forTrade inServices intheWTO.
Insupport ofthisrequest Ishould re-emphasize thatAMF'sbasic purposes include beside
assistance toitsmember countries inthecorrection ofbalance-of-payments disequilibria thepromotion
oftrade, exchange andpayments liberalization andopenmarkets atboththeregional andinternational
levels. Since itsinception AMF hasbeenendeavouring topromote agreater, active participation of
itsmembers ininternational efforts aimed atthecreation andmaintenance ofamore balanced world
tradesystem. AMF continues tofirmly believe thattheeffective discharge ofitsmission inthatrespect
requires interaliafollowing thework ofWTO asclosely asitdidwithregard toGATT. Intestimony
ofthistheAMF hasrecently, among several other related initiatives, organized jointly withtheArab
Fund forEconomic andSocial Development inKuwait aspecialized seminar ontheUruguay Round
andArab countries inwhich WTO wasactively represented.
Iwould therefore appreciate itif,onthestrength oftheabove representation, thismatter could
begiven favourable consideration atanappropriately timed meeting oftherelevant WTO body.