Turkmenistan received the status of an acceding country to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Today, during the regular meeting of the WTO General Council, Turkmenistan's application for WTO accession was considered, in compliance with Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement on WTO establishment, according to the Press Release from the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan at the UN Office in Geneva.

The meeting of the General Council was attended by Permanent Representative Atageldy Khaljanov, who addressed the WTO member countries on behalf of the Government of Turkmenistan.

In his speech, he noted that Turkmenistan adopted the "Foreign Trade Strategy for 2021-2030", according to which new tasks were identified to increase the production and export potential of the country's economy, raise the competitiveness of domestic goods on the world markets, further improve the business environment and investment climate in the economy of Turkmenistan.

To recap, on July 22, 2020, Turkmenistan achieved the WTO observer status, which allowed the country staying informed of the current multilateral trade agenda and the rules of the Organization. The growing trends of economic globalization in the modern world, especially after the pandemic situation, strengthen the country’s need to integrate more intensively into the world economy. The Government Commission established to study Turkmenistan's accession to the WTO, constantly examines in detail all aspects of interaction with the Organization for compliance with the national interests of the country.

Following the meeting, the member countries of the General Council of the Organization unanimously approved Turkmenistan's application and made a decision to grant Turkmenistan the status of the acceding country (not a full participant "active observer") to the WTO.

Earlier we reported that Turkmenistan applied for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).