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He
said that the submission of this document — which would be the basis
of discussions in the accession working party — was the result of
meticulous efforts by the Government of Bhutan backed up by timely and
focussed technical assistance.
The
Director-General noted that activation of Bhutan's accession was
strongly supported by all WTO Members and that they and the
Secretariat stood ready to provide all possible technical assistance
to the Kingdom of Bhutan. He expected that the first meeting of the
Working Party would be held prior to the Cancún Ministerial
Conference.
Dr.
Supachai said that the General Council's decision last December to
facilitate the entry of least developed countries into the WTO has
given new impetus to advancing or concluding LDC negotiations before
the Cancún Ministerial.
The
WTO Working Party on Accession for the Kingdom of Bhutan was
established on 6 October 1999. Since then work has been
underway in the capital, Thimpu, on preparing the documentation
required to activate the negotiating process in Geneva.
On
17 February 2003 the representative of the Kingdom of Bhutan
to the WTO delivered the Memorandum on the Foreign Trade Regime. The
Memorandum updates a draft document scrutinized by technical experts
in the Secretariat early in 2002. The document describes all aspects
of Bhutan's economy and legal system and its compliance with WTO norms
and requirements. |
