WTO SUCCESSOR TO GATT lMPLICATIONS FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD

Abstract

Within a short span of time a number of economic blocs have emerged
on the world horizon. In this race, all countriedeveloped, developing
and underdeveloped-are included. Members of the North America Free
Trade Agreement (NAITA) and the European Economic Community
(EEC) are primarily of the developed countries, while the Economic
Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) are of the developing and underdeveloped
Asian countries.
The developed countries are scrambling to create hegemonies through
the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT). In these circumstances,
economic cooperation among Muslim countries should be on
the top of their agenda.
Muslim countries today constitute about one-third of the membership
of the United Nations. There are around 56 independent
Muslim states with a population of around 800 million covering
about 20 percent of the land area of the world. Stretching
between Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, the Muslim World
straddles from North Africa to Indonesia, in two major Islamic
blocs, they are concentrated in the heart of Africa to Indonesia,
in two major blocs, they are concentrated in the heart of Africa
and Asia and a smaller group in South and Southeast Asia.'
GATT is a multilateral agreement on tariffs and trade establishing the
code of rules, regulations, and modalities regulating and operating international
trade. It also serves as a forum for discussions and negotiations ...