The Second Meeting of the Working Party on Ethiopia's Accession to the WTO held in Geneva, Switzerland.

May 06 2011

Press Statement
The Second Meeting of the Working Party on Ethiopia's Accession to the WTO was held today, 6 May 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Meeting was chaired by H.E Ambassador Steffen Smidt, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. The Ethiopian Delegation was led by the Chief Negotiator and Minister of Industry of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, His Excellency Ato Mekonnen Manyazewal. The delegation included H.E. Ato Newayechristos Gebreab, Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, H.E Ato Yaekob Yalla, State Minister of Trade and H.E. Ambassador Minelik Alemu Getahun and officials from relevant government institutions. At the meeting, the Chief Negotiator reaffirmed Ethiopia's commitment to expedite the accession process to join the WTO.

The Minister said that ''Ethiopia seeks to join the WTO in the firm belief that trade is a proven engine for economic development and membership of the rule-based multilateral trading system will contribute to our fight against poverty and under-development." Noting that the accession process has not progressed as rapidly as it was expected; the Chief Negotiator indicated that Ethiopia has been undertaking a number of measures necessary for the accession process.

He also stated that ''joining the multilateral trading system will be an exercise in further deepening the liberalization we have undertaken, and consolidating the resulting gains in our poverty alleviation strategy." The Minister underscored that ''the Government of Ethiopia considers WTO accession as a key part of its economic development strategies." He also underlined that the objectives of the five-year development plan of the Ethiopian Government, Growth and Transformation Plan, are consistent with the objectives of the WTO which aim to achieve "raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and expanding the production of and trade in goods and services."

Reiterating Ethiopia's commitment to take the necessary steps to join the WTO, the Minister stressed that the terms and conditions of the accession process should reflect the level of development of Ethiopia as a least developed country.

The Meeting reviewed documents submitted by Ethiopia and questions were raised to further clarify replies given by Ethiopia in its previous submissions. Many delegations made statements supporting Ethiopia's speedy accession to the WTO with full consideration to the 2002 WTO Guideline on LDC's Accession and in line with its current level of economic growth. They also appreciated Ethiopia's commitment to join the multilateral trading organization.