Ashgabat, 14 July 2022 (TDI): Zhang Xiangchen, the Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) gave his remarks at Turkmenistan Program for Foreign Trade Regime.
The Deputy Director-General thanked the donors for the first round table conference on Turkmenistan’s accession to WTO. He also added that WTO accessions are very important for him personally.
These accessions require preparation for trade policy-making as well as domestic coordination. He also added the significance of effective legislation and the implementation of WTO laws.
The Deputy Director-General of WTO said that all these efforts require International donors’ support and technical assistance. Likewise, he stated that the support from donors will help to overcome economic crises.
He continued by saying that there are two main purposes of this meeting firstly to meet with donors and secondly Preparation of Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime.
Through this meeting, the work program for preparing Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime will be launched.
Zhang Xiangchen congratulated the Government of Turkmenistan on the behalf of the Director General WTO. He considered it a milestone that will be beneficial not only for Turkmenistan but also for WTO.
Moreover, he said that Turkmenistan was the observer State of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from 1992 –1994.
Now with the support of WTO members, Turkmenistan can again be a part of a large Multilateral Trading System.
In addition to it, the Deputy Director-General of WTO shed light on the WTO members located near Turkmenistan. These WTO member States include Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan which are near Turkmenistan and are working actively.
He thanked the Secretariat of WTO for supporting the accession of Turkmenistan. Lastly, he mentioned that the WTO will support the Government of Turkmenistan till the end.
The Deputy Director-General of WTO encouraged Turkmenistan to use technical assistance provided by WTO. He also suggested the government of Turkmenistan use technical assistance timely to gain more benefits.
