Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister: New meeting on negotiations with WTO may take place in June

A new meeting as part of negotiations between Azerbaijan and the World Trade Organization (WTO) may take place in June, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Mahmud Mammadguliyev told Report.

“There are certain steps forward. But not fully serious, from my point of view. Perhaps there will be a meeting at the end of June,” he said.

Azerbaijan began negotiations with WTO member countries in 2004.

Currently, the country is in the process of negotiations with 13 countries. As of today, negotiations have been completed and protocols signed with Turkey, the Sultanate of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. Azerbaijan is at the stage of signing protocols with China and Moldova.

Azerbaijan has recently implemented a number of reforms as part of which it adopted 12 strategic roadmaps for economic development, introduced changes in the regulation of the trade sector, in the system of import customs tariffs, improved the trade and logistics infrastructure. Roadmaps implementation is expected to serve as the basis for the successful accession of Azerbaijan to the WTO. Accordingly, intensification of talks and completion of Azerbaijan's WTO accession will be possible only after preliminary results from ongoing economic reforms in the country are received, which is expected until 2020.

Azerbaijan has an observer status at the World Trade Organization since 1997. A working group on Azerbaijan under the WTO secretariat was established on July 16, 1997.