SYRIA'S WTO DREAMS CONTINUE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000542

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017
TAGS: ECON EFTA ETRD PREL SY
SUBJECT: SYRIA'S WTO DREAMS CONTINUE

REF: A. DAMASCUS 0017

B. DAMASCUS 0194

Classified By: CDA Michael Corbin, for reasons 1.4 b/d


1. (C) Summary: In the last several months, Syria has taken
several public steps in an expressed desire to advance its
WTO bid, including the formation of new committees on WTO
accession planning, and the holding of several workshops and
conferences designed to highlight their ongoing efforts to
both domestic and international audiences. SARG officials
continue to tout their progress on necessary economic reforms
to qualify for accession, though outside observers are
unanimous that their claims are highly inflated. End
Summary.


2. (C) The last several months have witnessed ongoing SARG
efforts to be seen advancing its WTO bid. In March 2007, the
SARG created four committees to prepare for negotiations.
These new teams will cover the areas of: trade in goods;
trade in services; intellectual property; and overall
negotiation strategy. This last team is headed directly by
Minister for Economy and Trade Amir Hosni Lutfi, while his
deputies lead the others. Deputy Minister for Economy and
Trade Ghassan al Eid told local media in early May that these
committees have nearly completed the required filings for
formal WTO accession negotiations. This echoes a remark made
by Syrian Office for the Boycott of Israel Director Muhammad
al-Ajami, who told EconOff on April 30 that Syria's WTO
accession package was "nearly complete", adding that he
believes the final version will have a "no-Israel" clause.


3. (U) On the heels of the formation of the new committees,
the Islamic Bank for Development and the Syrian Ministry of
Finance co-sponsored a symposium in Damascus April 1-4 on
joining the WTO. Thirty-five participants from seven Arab
countries attended the sessions. SARG Minister of Finance
Muhammad al-Husayn addressed the group and highlighted
Syria's ongoing economic reform and modernization program,
according to press reports. The symposium was designed to
raise awareness on issues related to WTO accession, and the
final component was a "virtual negotiation round", during
which a mock-WTO committee posed questions to the applying
nation's negotiating team. Lutfi highlighted Syria's
economic reforms, commenting publicly that Syria's
application - filed in 2001 - languishes due to opposition
and interference by the U.S. and Israel. In early May, the
Ministry of Economy and Trade and a German group held a
four-day workshop in Damascus titled, "Organizing Trade
Policy Within the Framework of Economic Reform in Syria."


4. (C) The SARG has made efforts to show progress on items
related to qualifying for WTO accession as well. Lutfi met
May 15 with Director of the Arab Bureau of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Nahla Haider to
discuss cooperation between the SARG and WIPO on protection
of intellectual property rights (IPR). After the meeting,
Haider told local media that efforts exerted thus far by the
SARG to protect IPR reflected positively on economic
development in Syria.


5. (C) Comment: Syria's ongoing efforts to push their WTO
application along seem more politically than economically
motivated. Despite the lack of an economic plan to give
meaning and direction to the SARG's WTO accession
application, the regime still seems to be calculating that
the political and public relations advantages of being seen
attempting the accession process may help erode its
international isolation. These efforts also appear more
rhetorical than substantive. The four new committees, for
example, exist more in name than reality, as they consist of
between one and four members, all of whom have other duties
and only meet by exception.
CORBIN