Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 2 October (BelTA) – There is an active negotiation process underway on Belarus’ accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told the media on 2 October, BelTA has learned.

“The negotiation process is dynamic. In my opinion, the next year will be quite important. There is not much time left this year, and we did not have a goal to join the WTO in 2017,” Vladimir Makei said.

In his words, the negotiation process will be on the home stretch in the near future. Belarus has completed negotiations with 14 countries so far. There are 11 more to come.

“We have received a number of clarification questions regarding specific aspects and fields. This is why we are now busy preparing answers to these questions. We will forward them to the European Union in about six to eight weeks. The USA has also asked a lot of clarification questions. We will send replies to our other partners, too,” the minister added.