Azerbaijan Deputy FM talks about Azerbaijan's accession into the WTO

“Although negotiations on Azerbaijan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) are well under way, we will not be admitted to the organization any time soon,” Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mammadguliyev said.

"We have our own position in this respect. The countries with whom we are negotiating also have their positions. I cannot say the negotiations will end in two ot three years. But I can say for sure that Azerbaijan will not accede WTO this year as negotiations will take very long time,”  he said.

"At present, Turkey, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have signed protocols with us indicating that they agree with our proposals.”

“Such protocols with Georgia and Kyrgyzstan have already been drafted. We need only to fix the time and place to sign them,” the deputy FM said.

The working group on Azerbaijan includes 38 countries. More than ten countries are negotiating with us. It is not necessary that all of them were members of the working group. A WTO member has the right to seek negotiations with the country planning to join this organization," Mammadguliyev added.

V. Vugarli