Ethiopia commences bilateral engagements to accelerate WTO accession

Addis Ababa, January 23, 2025 (FMC) – In a move to accelerate its World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, Tsegab Kebebew engaged in bilateral discussions with the Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives of Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom to the WTO. During these engagements, Ambassador Tsegab expressed gratitude to the Ambassadors for their countries’ pivotal support in Ethiopia’s WTO accession journey, while highlighting the historical, economic, investment, and trade relations between the countries. He also provided an update on Ethiopia’s WTO accession process.

Ambassador Tsegab emphasized that Ethiopia is now in a critical phase of its WTO accession process, where finalizing bilateral agreements with key trading partners is essential.

He outlined Ethiopia’s readiness to begin bilateral negotiations based on the revised offers in goods and services, which align with the WTO’s guidelines for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), as well as Ethiopia’s developmental priorities and the interests of member countries.

He requested that negotiations be initiated promptly, with the goal of finalizing agreements before the 5th Working Party Meeting, scheduled for March 2025.

The representatives of Japan, Naoki Hikota, the Russian Federation, Nikolai Platonov, and the United Kingdom, Andrew Jackson, all expressed strong support for Ethiopia’s accession and a willingness to facilitate the process. They informed Ambassador Tsegab that the revised offers are currently under review in their capitals and pledged to provide feedback and initiate negotiations.

Additionally, they committed to raising awareness of the urgency of the matter with their respective capitals. The Ambassadors also reiterated their countries’ readiness to offer technical support to help Ethiopia meet its accession objectives.