Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr I. Khalilova / The Azerbaijani Government has plans to hold bilateral meetings with the Unites States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan in July within the framework of Azerbaijan's joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the head of the Secretariat of the State Commission, Adalat Muradov, said on 11 June. The negotiations will be held during the informal meeting of the working group scheduled on 21 July.
The European Council (EC) and the United Sates are the main partners in the talks on joining the WTO, meaning much depends on them regarding the agreement. Talks with the EC were held in May, 2007. Positions of the EC and the US are that a country joining WTO is required to commit to custom tariffs as much as possible. They are also interested in protecting intellectual property, lifting restrictions on opening direct bank branches in Azerbaijan and restrictions on entering of foreign capital into the country's insurance market, and eliminating monopolies in international calling in Azerbaijan's communications market.
WTO countries wish to clarify how much tariff policy is liberal and transparent in Azerbaijan and whether it corresponds to contemporary requirements on introduction of a single regime for imported and local goods and services.
Azerbaijan, in its turn, has the intention to enter the WTO under the status of a developing country.
Talks with Oman, Georgia, Moldova, and Turkey are completed. These countries have reached an agreement accepting Azerbaijan's proposals with their original terms, and are ready to sign protocols.