Tajiks to
Join WTO as 159th Member
Afghans, Azeris are Next in the Queue
The General Council on 10 December
2012 paved the way for Tajikistan’s membership of the WTO by approving its
accession package. Tajikistan would have to ratify the deal by 7 June 2013 and
would become a WTO member 30 days after the ratification.
Tajikistan’s President, Emomali Rahmon declared “Today constitutes a landmark in
Tajikistan’s history and lays solid foundations for further promotion of
sustainable social and economic growth. Applying for WTO membership 11 years
ago was the right step forward for Tajikistan as it transforms itself into a
market economy. Tajikistan will use its WTO membership as a means of fostering
future economic growth and prosperity”.
WTO members congratulated Tajikistan for completing its
accession process.
Tajikistan applied for WTO membership on 29 May 2001 and the
Working Party concluded the negotiations on 26 October 2012.
Tajikistan’s accession package contains the Working Party
report outlining its reformed trade regime and its commitments as a WTO member,
its market access schedules on goods and services, the General Council Decision
and the Protocol of Accession.
At
the third meeting of the Afghanistan accession working party, held on 7
December 2012, WTO members expressed their willingness to make this accession a
priority in 2013.
The working party examined the latest state of play in
Afghanistan’s accession negotiations, including bilateral market access
negotiations and legislative developments, and discussed next steps in the work
of the working party.
In his opening remarks, Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister of
Commerce and Industry, H.E. Mozammil Shinwari, updated the working party on measures undertaken
in Kabul regarding economic, trade and legislative reforms. He also
outlined future legislative work.
The
10th meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Azerbaijan on 7 December
2012 was the second meeting in 2012 (the 9th meeting took place in late
February). Members reviewed the state of play in the bilateral market access
negotiations on goods and services, examined the country’s foreign trade regime
and reviewed legislative developments.
Mr Mahmud Mammad-Guliyev, Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator of Azerbaijan, provided an
overview of Azerbaijan’s economy and the development of WTO-related
legislation. The objective of the Azerbaijani Government, he said, was to
diversify and modernize the economy to reduce its dependence on the oil and gas
sector.
On the bilateral market access negotiations, Mr Mammad-Guliyev noted that Azerbaijan had signed a bilateral
agreement with the Kyrgyz Republic, in March 2012, and had recently concluded
bilateral negotiations with China. It had also held bilateral negotiations with
Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Norway and the United States on the
margins of the meeting of the Working Party.