MINSK, 23 January (BelTA) – Belarus may join the World Trade Organization (WTO) before the end of 2017, Chairman of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Vladimir Ulakhovich said in an interview broadcast by the Belarus One TV channel on 22 January.
When asked on Belarus' WTO accession, Vladimir Ulakhovich said: “Naming deadlines is a thankless task, but I do not rule out that this may happen before the end of the ongoing year. Very soon we will have another round of talks and I think we will be able to say more about the deadlines after them.”
“Our trading rules are much similar to those of the WTO, since the Eurasian Economic Union is based on the same principles. The only thing we are still to do is to take all transitional measures to protect our financial institutions and farm producers, the same way it has been done in all the WTO member states,” the BCCI head said.
In his words, there are no big obstacles hindering the country's accession to the WTO.
BelTA earlier reported that a delegation led by Belarus' First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Yevdochenko is expected to take part in the talks on Belarus' WTO entry in Geneva on 23-26 January. The Belarusian delegation is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with more than ten WTO member states.
