The World Trade Organisation (WTO) on December 7 reached a breakthrough in its multilateral trade negotiation by sealing its first-ever trade package at its ninth ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

The adoption of the “full Bali package” at the closing ceremony is a breakthrough that marks a historic progress for the 12-year stagnant Doha negotiation round.

The deal includes commitments that facilitate trade activities by simplifying customs procedures and removing trade barriers.

Some economists said that the agreement may bring 1,000 billion USD to the world economy.

The decisions at the meeting are "important stepping stones to the completion of the Doha Development Round," said WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.

During the conference, the ministers also discussed several other issues such as increasing support for least developed countries (LDCs) to join WTO, realising commitment to preventing trade protection, e-commerce, intellectual property, information technology and government purchases.

Also at the event, Yemen officially became the 160 th member of the organisation and the 7 th member of the LDCs group.

The expansion showed that WTO remains an important global trade organisation that has a great influence on the economic-trade development strategies of all countries and territories worldwide.-VNA