A delegation from the World Trade Organization Secretariat's Accessions Division, consisting of Maika Oshikawa and Anna Varyanik, concluded a three-day visit to Ashgabat. The mission, which lasted from May 19 to 21, focused on practical steps to advance Turkmenistan's WTO accession process.

During the visit, the delegation held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, met with members of the Interdepartmental Coordination Commission on accession issues, as well as with development partners and donors regarding possible technical assistance.

The central topic of the negotiations was the preparation of a Memorandum on Turkmenistan's Foreign Trade Regime, which is planned to be submitted to the WTO Secretariat in the near future. Maika Oshikawa praised the document's quality, stating that in her experience, which includes over 20 accession processes, she has never encountered a memorandum of such high quality. The document was prepared under the coordination of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in collaboration with relevant agencies.

Turkmenistan's efforts to bring its national legislation into line with WTO standards were also noted, in particular, the development of draft laws in the areas of competition, trade protection measures, standardization, and technical regulation.