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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (287913)	5/14/2006 2:35:41 AM
From: Elroy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573540

Did someone say "free trade"? Published: 05/14/2006 12:00 AM (UAE) gulfnews.com US urged to open its telecom sector to UAE operators By Ahmad Ameen, Staff Reporter Abu Dhabi: The UAE is seeking an entry for its operators into the United States telecom market, a top UAE government official said. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Governmental Sector Development, told Gulf News during the UAE Korean ICT forum, held in Abu Dhabi yesterday, "The American side is pressing hard towards the liberalisation of the UAE telecom sector with immediate effect, despite the fact that there is a timeframe that extends to 2015 according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)." WTO wants the global telecom sector to be completely liberalised, free from monopoly or government protection so that the global consumers benefit and remain connected by 2010. However, this lucrative sector is vigorously guarded by governments and protected from competition to artificially keep the telecom prices higher. "The UAE is suggesting to advance the date to 2010, as a compromise from our side, given that we get something in exchange," Al Mansouri said, explaining that "these are by definition bilateral trade negotiations, and accordingly the UAE will not consider any compromise unless it is met with a fair exchange. This our policy and our negotiating strategy not only in the telecom sector, it extends to all other sectors subject to the talks." "The Americans are strongly refusing the opening up of the telecom sector before the UAE companies, They need to come up with a compromise, else we are sticking to 2015 as the year set for liberalising our telecom sector," he added.