On participation of Belarus in the WTO Parliamentary Conference
09.12.2018On December 6-7, 2018, the delegation of Belarus headed by Mr. Valery Voronetsky, Chairman of the Commission on International Affairs of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly, took part in the annual session of the WTO Parliamentary Conference in Geneva at the invitation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament.
Parliamentary delegations from more than 60 countries-members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Permanent Representatives in Geneva, representatives of management of the WTO, World Bank, FAO, UNCTAD are taking part in the conference. Under its agenda an interactive discussion on development of international trade until 2030 and on the WTO reform took place. Parliamentarians has learnt about the proposals of WTO members on how to reform of Appellate Body and the transparency system, to revitalize the dialogue on new WTO initiatives and to overcome frictions between developed and developing countries. The discussion tried to address the issue of maximization of benefits of these processes for the population and on the role of parliamentarians in achieving this goal.
In his speech at the conference, Valery Voronetsky informed the participants about the interest of Belarus in joining the WTO in nearest future and expressed the hope that the reform process would not impact in a negative way on WTO accession of new countries.
In response, Xiaozhun Yi, WTO Deputy Director General, supported the earliest accession of Belarus to the WTO, noting that it would further strengthen the multilateral trading system. He called upon Belarus to closely monitor the process of development of new trade rules and to actively participate in discussions at the WTO site even now.
On the margins of the Conference, Valery Voronetsky held meetings with Martin Chungong, Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, members of parliamentary delegations from Russia, Germany, France, Austria, India, Ukraine, and other countries. During the meeting with representatives of the WTO Secretariat, he discussed the prospective spheres of cooperation between the Organization and the Parliament of Belarus, including technical assistance.
