KABUL (SW): Afghanistan eyes to join the World Trade Organization as members of this world trade body meets in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday.
According to Musafar Qoqandi, Spokesman for the Ministry of Trade and Commerce, the WTO membership means a lot to Afghanistan. In an exclusive interview with Salam Watandar, Qoqandi said Afghanistan could easily access the markets of 164 countries if it obtains the WTO membership. Afghanistan would also be able to resolve trade disputes at the international level then, he hoped
Khan Jan Alokozay, Vice President for the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said in this regard that Afghanistan was still following many outdated ways of exporting items to countries like Iran and Pakistan. Alokozay hoped with the WTO membership, the country’s trade would witness much-awaited modernization.
In eyes of the analysts, WTO membership is the need of the hour. Ustad Masoud, Professor at the Kabul University however, believed that Afghanistan still needed to fix a number of issues before knocking at the WTO’s door.
The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 and it deals with regulation of trade between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process. The WTO has 162 members and 22 observer governments. Iran, followed by Algeria, are the economies with the largest GDP and trade outside the WTO.
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