MINSK, 20 April (BelTA) – The information campaign WTO Weeks in Belarus 2021 will be launched on 21 April. A series of roundtables with representatives of business communities to discuss Belarus' accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be held in all regions of the country within the framework of the campaign, BelTA learned from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Office in Belarus.
During the campaign, representatives of local businesses will get familiar with the process of Belarus' WTO accession and the main advantages they will get from the country's membership in this organization. Participants will be able to discuss practical issues related to promotion of Belarusian goods and services in foreign markets after the country's accession to the WTO and hold consultations with experts in international trade policy. The first edition of the WTO Weeks in Belarus was hosted by Vitebsk.
The campaign traditionally comprises a series of roundtables. This year's events will focus on tariff protection, accessing markets of third countries with Belarusian products, and increasing services export within the framework of Belarus' WTO accession.
The events of the WTO Weeks in Belarus 2021 will be organized with the support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Economy Ministry of Belarus and experts in foreign trade and the WTO.
“Accession to the WTO is one of the priorities of Belarus' foreign trade policy. This will enable the country to ensure stable and predictable terms of trade with other countries and make foreign investors and manufacturers follow universal rules of foreign economic activities in Belarus,” the UNDP stressed.
Belarus is currently at the final stage of the negotiations that concerns drawing up the final list of its obligations to the WTO.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected the negotiations between Belarus and other countries, the UNDP stressed. However, this process continued even despite closed borders thanks to the efforts of the national negotiations team with assistance from the UNDP project “Assisting the Government of the Republic of Belarus in Accession to the World Trade Organization through Strengthening National Institutional Capacity and Expertise” that is implemented in partnership with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with Russia's financial support.
