Saudi Arabia's Al-Moqbel appointed WTO General Council president for 2025–2026
RIYADH — The General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has unanimously appointed Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the WTO Saqer Al-Moqbel as its president for the 2025–2026 term. This marks a historic milestone, as Al-Moqbel becomes the first Arab and Middle Eastern delegate to assume this prestigious position.
The WTO General Council, which convenes throughout the year, oversees the organization's operations between ministerial conferences, held biennially. As the highest decision-making body at the level of heads of missions, the council plays a crucial role in shaping global trade policies.
During Saudi Arabia's presidency, the General Council is set to address several key issues, including preparations for the 14th Ministerial Conference, scheduled to be held in Cameroon in March 2026. The agenda will also focus on essential WTO reforms, particularly the dispute settlement mechanism; advancing negotiations on the second phase of the Fisheries Subsidy Agreement; and addressing agriculture, food security, and development concerns. Other priorities include integrating multilateral agreements, such as the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement and the E-Commerce Agreement, into the WTO framework.
Commenting on the appointment, President Al-Moqbel emphasized that Saudi Arabia's leadership in the WTO General Council reflects its growing role in the international economic landscape, leveraging its global economic influence to strengthen multilateral trade cooperation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Tech leaders should focus on job creation, not displacement
When ChatGPT stormed onto the scene in late 2022, the alarm bells rang loud. Philosophers and futurists demanded new rules to prevent humanity from sliding into chaos, wars and disorder. Since then, a string of large language models and apps — Gemini, Grok, Perplexity, Meta AI — have caused fresh anxieties. Two years on, true artificial general intelligence is still a distant goal but the mixed results of widespread adoption of AI are already plain to see. Change that was happening gradually is now happening swiftly. As veteran Wall Street Journal commentator Peggy Noonan wrote in a recent column, 'The story is no longer 'AI in coming decades will take a lot of jobs' or 'AI will take jobs sooner than we think.' It is 'AI is here and a quiet havoc has begun.' Yet, for America's AI titans, the motivation today seems less about building tools that create new jobs and more about accelerating human displacement while envisioning a vast social safety net as compensation. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled 'What Musk, Altman and Others Say About AI-Funded 'Universal Basic Income'' stated: 'Suddenly, an idea once seen as a socialist policy that would reward idleness is one of the AI boom's hottest acronyms.' According to the article, the consensus in Silicon Valley is that automation driven by AI is going to replace a lot of factory jobs and white-collar roles while generating billions in profits for AI companies. What tech leaders and gurus seem divided over is whether AI-funded universal basic income is the answer to the challenge of mass unemployment. Of course, as the popular 1956 Doris Day song 'Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)' reminds us: 'The future's not ours to see … what will be, will be.' Perhaps there is no need to worry excessively, as many a bleak prophecy in the past (for example, 'The Population Bomb,' a book by Paul R. Ehrlich about the looming danger of overpopulation) failed to come to pass. High-quality jobs give young people a reason to get up in the morning, a sense of fulfillment and a feeling of progress in their lives. We risk losing the essence of this in an idle society with universal basic income. Arnab Neil Sengupta Perhaps the 'quiet havoc' of which Noonan spoke is a temporary phenomenon and US employment numbers will pick up, similar to the way in which the development of mainframe computers in the 1950s created entirely new occupations. In any case, AI tycoons such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Marc Benioff ought to be thinking of ways in which AI can be used to create plentiful, professionally rewarding jobs instead of touting the introduction of universal basic income as inevitable. Not only would such income for Americans made redundant by AI be of little use to the rest of the world, it could be a recipe for trouble in the long term. Jobs do not just pay wages, as the Silicon Valley titans surely know. Jobs circulate money throughout the economy, creating demand for goods and services, generating tax revenues and nurturing communities. A purely passive income scheme will not generate the same level of productive economic activity. For many people, especially young adults, meaningful work is a core part of their identity. For young people in the Arab world, it is not an exaggeration to say a job equals purpose, self-worth and hope. Employment in challenging roles builds skills, creativity and problem-solving capacities that are essential for adapting to future changes. High-quality jobs in particular give educated young people a sense of fulfillment and progress in their lives. This satisfaction would be at risk of being lost in an idle society. The workplace is a powerful training ground. Before the advent of remote working, conversation and competition made busy offices incubators of great ideas. In his memoir 'City Room,' Arthur Gelb, the late American journalist, described the New York Times newsroom of the 1940s this way: 'There was an overwhelming sense of purpose, fire and life: the clacking rhythm of typewriters, the throbbing of great machines in the composing room on the floor above, reporters shouting for copy boys to pick up their stories.' Employment creates networks, encourages teamwork and accountability, and strengthens civic engagement. On the other hand, large-scale joblessness, especially among young people, produces social drift, weakens bonds, increases division, feeds unrest and erodes hope. AI tycoons such as Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Marc Benioff ought to be thinking of ways in which AI can be used to generate plentiful, professionally rewarding jobs instead of touting the introduction of universal basic income as inevitable. Arnab Neil Sengupta No matter what term tech tycoons choose to apply to it — 'universal extreme wealth,' 'universal high income' or 'universal basic income' — the dangers of financially rewarding idleness can scarcely be overstated. In addition to the erosion of motivation and the work ethic, a guaranteed income without the expectation of contribution might lead to disconnection from skills-building and long-term planning. There is also the risk of social fragmentation and alienation. Without shared daily activities like work, people living off AI profits could become more isolated, lose touch with community norms, and fall into destructive habits or radicalized echo chambers. None of this is an argument for a Luddite agenda resisting the adoption of a technology whose time has come. Even California socialists do not advocate turning back the clock — although, ultimately, robots rather than American workers might end up doing the heavy lifting of President Trump's planned manufacturing renaissance. If the technological displacement of human workers proves unstoppable, the pace and scale of AI-driven automation will undoubtedly make job creation in some sectors unviable. A universal basic income could at least ensure that people's basic needs are met in a fully automated economy. A guaranteed supplemental income could also reduce some of the economic insecurity and stress. It could provide a safety net that allows people to take entrepreneurial risks, retrain or transition to new industries without fear of destitution, potentially prompting innovation from the ground up. In theory, the recipients of universal basic income would have the freedom to pursue non-market value creation. Thus, with their basic needs covered, people could focus on care-giving, volunteering, education, the creative arts or environmental projects that existing markets do not adequately reward, even though the wider society still benefits from them. If the pros and cons of an AI-funded 'universal high income' make it sound like a quixotic experiment in wealth generation — lowering costs for companies and then handing out part of the profits in a post-work future — that is because it indeed would be if tried. Job-loss fears are real, but the remedy should not be worse than the disease. Ultimately, the responsibility of tech leaders is not to make mass idleness the new normal, but to harness AI in ways that expand human opportunity. • Arnab Neil Sengupta is a senior editor at Arab News.
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Justice Ministry launches unified translation services via e-litigation platform
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The Ministry of Justice has launched the Unified Translation Center services on the e-Litigation platform to manage all judicial translation requests and processes from initiation to completion. This is designed to accelerate services, improve output quality, and integrate translation functions with the platform's case management system. The new services automate the receipt of translation requests submitted by beneficiaries through lawsuits or judicial departments, coordinate their distribution among translators, and enable supervision and follow-up on their implementation status. The system also organizes the center's operational processes, ensuring efficient workflow management. Through the e-Litigation platform, beneficiaries can track their requests step by step, enhancing service efficiency, accelerating litigation procedures, and raising the overall quality of judicial services.
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
Saudi Arabia approves digital ID use for non-resident foreigners to own property
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Cabinet has approved the use of a digital ID to enable non-Saudi, non-resident foreigners to own property in the Kingdom. The General Real Estate Authority will coordinate with the Ministry of Interior, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the National Information Center, and other relevant bodies to develop mechanisms for activating the digital ID. The move aims to allow its use ahead of the implementation of the Non-Saudi Real Estate Ownership Law. The Cabinet also endorsed a decision by the Strategic Committee of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs on governance for non-Saudi property ownership and usufruct rights, including forming a committee within the authority's board to oversee these matters. The board of the General Real Estate Authority has been restructured under its CEO's chairmanship, with members from several ministries, government bodies, and three private-sector representatives. In July, the Cabinet approved the Non-Saudi Real Estate Ownership Law, which will take effect in January 2026. Last month, the authority also released a draft of the law's executive regulations, requiring non-resident foreigners to obtain and activate a digital ID via the Absher platform, open a Saudi bank account, and secure a local contact number before acquiring or using property.
