Azerbaijan to sign contracts with Oman and Arabic Emirates on WTO accession

Novosti-Azerbaujan reports with reference to the announcement of the Azerbaijan Economic Development Ministry, in the framework of the session Azerbaijan will sign bilateral contracts with Oman and United Arabic Emirates.

The session will be attended by the Azerbaijani delegation led by Azerbaijan's Economic Development Minister Heydar Babayev. The sides plan to discuss answers to the previously prepared questions of WTO members regarding the trade regime of Azerbaijan and other issues, concerning the organization members.

It should be reminded that Azerbaijan expressed intention to access WTO in 1997. A number of measures in this direction were undertaken through the past period. In particular, a work group, which included representatives of the WTO member-states was created in 1999. The first session of the group was held in 2002 and the next three in 2004, 2005 and 2006 respectively.

The commission on preliminary works was created in 2003 to accelerate the process. The commission held9 sessions. In 2007 Azerbaijan and Turkey signed a bilateral protocol regarding accession. At present, bilateral talks are conducted in a number of countries.