Turkmenistan creates commission to prepare memorandum for WTO accession

A working commission to draft a memorandum on foreign trade procedures has been set up in Turkmenistan for joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

During government meeting via video link, Turkmen leader Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on the establishment of a working commission to develop a memorandum on the order of foreign trade of Turkmenistan and approved its composition in order to ensure the effective integration of Turkmenistan into the global economic structure and coordination of issues related to the country's accession to the WTO, "Neutral Turkmenistan" reports.

The issue of Turkmenistan's accession to the WTO was raised for the first time in January 2011 by the then-head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso. During his visit to Ashgabat, he invited then-President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov to apply for Turkmenistan's membership in the World Trade Organization. Turkmenistan applied and was granted observer status at the WTO in 2020, and Ashgabat applied for WTO membership as a full member at the next general council meeting in Geneva in 2022. As a result, it was decided to grant Turkmenistan the status of acceding country (active observer) to the WTO.