MINSK, 7 December (BelTA) – The WTO supports the early accession of Belarus to the organization, WTO Deputy Director General Yi Xiaozhun said at the annual session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Geneva, BelTA learned from the press service of the House of Representatives.
The conference is attended by a Belarusian delegation led by Valery Voronetsky, Chairman of the Standing Commission for International Affairs of the House of Representatives. “He made a report on the development of e-commerce in the country, the digital economy, small and medium-sized business. The Belarusian MP called on the parliamentary delegations participating in the conference to support Belarus' accession to the WTO and expressed the hope that the process of reforming the organization will not have a negative impact on the process of accession of new countries.
In response, WTO Deputy Director General Yi Xiaozhun supported early accession of Belarus having noted that it will contribute to further strengthening the multilateral trading system, the press service noted. In the context of the much-discussed reform Yi Xiaozhun urged Belarus to closely monitor the new trade rules development process and to participate actively in the discussions in the WTO.
On the sidelines of the conference, Valery Voronetsky also met with Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong, members of the parliamentary delegations of Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Ukraine, India and other countries.
This is the first time Belarus is attending the annual session of Parliamentary Conference on the WTO. The invitation has been sent to Belarus by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament. In Geneva, the conference brought together delegations from over 60 countries-members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, plenipotentiary representatives, senior representatives of the WTO, the World Bank, FAO, UNCTAD.
