Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 11 / Trend V. Zhavoronkova/
Tajikistan's joining the World Trade Organization may cause some negative consequences, Russian expert on Central Asia Leonid Gusev believes.
"I think that Tajikistan's membership in the organization is hardly to bring something good to the country," senior fellow at the Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry's Moscow State Institute of the International Relations Leonid Gusev told Trend on Tuesday.
Tajikistan officially joined the WTO during the WTO General Council's session, held in Geneva.
After all legal procedures are completed, Tajikistan will become the 159th member of the organization. The Tajik Parliament has to ratify the document within six months and following this procedure the country will become a full member of the organization.
Analysts believe, after joining the WTO and accepting the framework of the organization, Tajikistan will have to dismantle the whole system of tariff and non-tariff borders imposed on importing goods, Gusev said.
This may affect the whole system of small and medium business in the country, he added.
"One more important factor, which will affect the country's entrepreneurship, is that many of active normative and legal acts will be changed and brought in accordance with WTO regulations," Gusev said.
He added that complex reformation of acting legislation without required information coverage by state agencies and consulting services may bring to negative effect.
Also, expert says, the internal prices in the country should be brought in a line with the world ones, which today are higher than in Tajikistan.
"This may decrease the competitiveness of the country's small enterprises," Gusev added.
Tajikistan is the second country of the region besides Kyrgyzstan, qualifying for WTO accession.
The negotiations on Tajikistan's joining the organization started in 2001.