Minister of MoTRI discusses with WTO DG

Addis Ababa, July 29, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Gebremeskel Chala and his delegation discussed with Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland.

During their meeting, the Director-General welcomed the Minister and discussed about challenges and opportunities of the process of Ethiopia’s accession as a member of WTO.

Geberameskel Challa, also Chief Negotiator of Ethiopia to the WTO, thanked Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala for her support to Ethiopia, assuring her of his government’s commitment to resume the quest for WTO accession. He also reiterated readiness to move forward to finalize the process.

The WTO Director-General, for her part, appreciated the resumption of Ethiopia’s accession process to the WTO. She informed the delegation that WTO will avail the necessary technical assistance to expedite the process.

«Great to see Ethiopia’s renewed interest and readiness to work for the WTO accession,” she said in a post on her Twitter page wall. The DG also stated that she is “looking forward to working with the Ethiopian delegation members to make this happen.”

It is stated that this discussion is a big boost for Ethiopia’s accession to the WTO.

Recall that the Ethiopian delegation also discussed on July 26 with Mr. ZHANG Xiangchen, Deputy Director-General of World Trade Organization (WTO), on the resumption of the negotiations of Ethiopia’s accession to the WTO, in Geneva.