Azerbaijan to ink papers on WTO admission with Arab states

Azerbaijan will cooperate with Oman and the United Arab Emirates in the admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The government will sign respective bilateral protocols with each country on May 6, an Economic Development Ministry official said.

Adalat Muradov, who acts as secretary of the state commission on WTO admission, said such a document was already signed with Turkey in 2007.

He noted that the Azerbaijani government continued bilateral talks on the accession to the group.

Kyrgyzstan has pledged support for Azerbaijan’s future admission and provided its consent to sign a protocol with the country. The Kyrgyz economic development and trade minister is in charge of signing the document.

The Azerbaijani government held talks on WTO accession with India, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Norway last week.

“As a rule, bilateral talks are kept confidential. Each country puts forth its demands, and talks center around them. The demands of the countries are different,” Muradov said.

India, Sri Lanka and Norway have just started negotiations on Azerbaijan’s accession. As for South Korea, three rounds of bilateral talks have been held so far, and the two countries have reached agreement on a number of issues, the ministry official said.

On May 6, the taskforce on Azerbaijan’s accession to the WTO will hold its fifth meeting. The participants will table the replies to the questions on trade regulations earlier submitted by WTO members.*