WASHINGTON, Sept 10: The United States and Saudi Arabia signed a bilateral agreement on Friday paving the way for the world’s largest oil producer and leading Opec member to join the World Trade Organization by the end of the year, the US trade representative’s office said on Friday.

This represents progress for Saudi Arabia, the United States and the WTO, US Trade Representative Rob Portman said in a statement after a private signing ceremony.

As a result of negotiations on its accession to the WTO, we will see greater openness, further development of the rule of law, and political and economic reform in Saudi Arabia. We have also increased our cooperation on bilateral and multilateral issues, Portman said.

As part of the deal, Saudi Arabia has promised not to enforce aspects of the Arab League boycott of Israel that apply to US firms doing business with Israel, USTR said. Riyadh also has pledged to abide by WTO rules in its trade with all 148 members of the WTO, including Israel, USTR said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the last major economies that is not a member of the Geneva-based global trade body. Several other Opec members — ranging from the UAE to Venezuela — are already in the WTO.

The United States has negotiated a bilateral pact that will require Saudi Arabia to open its markets to more American goods and services and increase the transparency of domestic regulations that affect the ability of foreign companies to do business in the country, Portman said.

Saudi Arabia still must finish work on a multilateral agreement with all WTO members before it can join the organization.—Reuters