The Dead Sea, Jordan, June 7 : The Regional Commission for the Middle East of the UN World Trade Organization on Wednesday elected the State of Kuwait Second Deputy of the commission chair. Kuwait also won membership in the "designation documents commission" at the organization for the first time since founding the WTO in 1975.

This came during the 49th meeting of the commission and the Medical and Wellness Tourism Conference, held with participation of a Kuwaiti delegation headed by the assistant undersecretary for tourism at the ministry of information Saud Al-Khaldi, representatives of 13 Arab states, international and Arab organizations. In remarks to KUNA, Al-Khaldi said electing Kuwait to serve in this ranking post signaled its high-esteem status within the WTO, noting that Kuwait's development strategy neo Kuwait 2035 aims at boosting it status regionally and internationally in diverse sectors including tourism.

He indicated the national approach in the sector to promote Kuwait as a shopping and nutrition hub, noting that tourism is an axis in the government manifesto (2022-2026). The 49th meeting of the WTO regional commission kick started earlier today, with attendance of the organization's secretary general, Zurab Pololikashvili, Jordan's Minister Tourism Makram Al-Qaisi and Arab peers.

Pololikashvili said the meeting was held to ponder plans for facing challenges in the tourism sector in the region. Meanwhile, Ahmad Issa, the head of the regional commission and Egypt's Tourism Minister, said the meeting bears special significance as it is being held following dire ramifications of the coronavirus crisis. (KUNA)