Saudi Arabia has proposed to host a major ‍meeting of ‍the World Trade Organization in 2028, ​a WTO document showed.

The request was on the agenda of ⁠a WTO meeting being held in Geneva on December 16-17, ⁠and 22 countries ‌welcomed the proposal, but a final decision was not yet made, a WTO spokesperson said ⁠on Thursday.

Bangladesh, Kuwait, Russia, Cameroon, and Thailand were among the countries that supported the proposal to host the meeting in Riyadh, which would coincide ⁠with the 20th anniversary of ​Saudi Arabia's accession to the WTO.

Saudi Arabia's Commerce Minister Majid bin ‍Abdullah al-Qasabi first raised the idea in October.

"Hosting MC15 represents ​a strategic opportunity to demonstrate our deep commitment to the principles and objectives of the WTO and the Multilateral Trading System," he said at the time.

Saudi Arabia is regularly a host of financial conferences and has in recent years also made a massive push into sports and entertainment in an effort to boost its international image ⁠and will host the 2034 soccer ‌World Cup.

MC14 will be hosted in Yaounde, Cameroon in March 2026, where ministers will discuss potential ‌reforms to ⁠the world trade watchdog.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, additional reporting by ⁠Olivia Le Poidevin, editing by Thomas Seythal)