Q:
A:
Serbia in WTO by 2008 at the latest
Belgrade,
7 September 2005
Serbian Minister of International Economic Relations Milan Parivodic said today that his forecast about Serbia becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by 2008 at the latest is possible.
Milan Parivodic
In a statement to the Beta news agency, Parivodic said it is a realistic expectation that in the autumn of 2006 Serbia will sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU (SAA), which opens the road to becoming a candidate country for EU membership.
He specified that the initial two-day talks with the WTO will begin on October 7 this year, whereas talks on EU membership are to take place three days later.
Parivodic said that as part of the talks with the WTO, the Memorandum on Serbia’s foreign trade regime will be presented, which will answer demands of the WTO member countries concerning the regime.
Everything that the Ministry of International Economic Relations has achieved concerning the judiciary and adjusting the customs rate, which will be gradually decreased, will be presented at this meeting with the WTO representatives, Parivodic pointed out.
He explained that the process of joining the WTO is a complex one, and that Serbia has an opportunity to redefine its legal system in line with WTO regulations. This, along with the improvement of Serbia’s reputation, represent two of the major benefits for Serbia once it becomes a WTO member state, Parivodic said.
The WTO, currently with 148 member states, covers 85 percent of world trade. Joining the WTO offers guarantees to foreign investors that they will not risk failure if they invest into the Serbian market, which is another benefit, the minister added.
“We will improve our economic and legal systems by bringing them in line with WTO principles, which are in force in the most developed countries”, Parivodic said.
He pointed out that WTO membership will also have an “economic effect”. For example, he explained, during the privatisation process, an enterprise that would have sold for €50 million would have garnered at least an additional €10 million more
“We are now brought to a position to simultaneously negotiate with both the EU and WTO. If everything had been done more efficiently, we would have been negotiating first with the WTO, and then with the EU”, Parivodic said.
He said that by joining the WTO, and especially the EU, Serbia will have easier access to international institutions’ cash funds.
He specified that the initial two-day talks with the WTO will begin on October 7 this year, whereas talks on EU membership are to take place three days later.
Parivodic said that as part of the talks with the WTO, the Memorandum on Serbia’s foreign trade regime will be presented, which will answer demands of the WTO member countries concerning the regime.
Everything that the Ministry of International Economic Relations has achieved concerning the judiciary and adjusting the customs rate, which will be gradually decreased, will be presented at this meeting with the WTO representatives, Parivodic pointed out.
He explained that the process of joining the WTO is a complex one, and that Serbia has an opportunity to redefine its legal system in line with WTO regulations. This, along with the improvement of Serbia’s reputation, represent two of the major benefits for Serbia once it becomes a WTO member state, Parivodic said.
The WTO, currently with 148 member states, covers 85 percent of world trade. Joining the WTO offers guarantees to foreign investors that they will not risk failure if they invest into the Serbian market, which is another benefit, the minister added.
“We will improve our economic and legal systems by bringing them in line with WTO principles, which are in force in the most developed countries”, Parivodic said.
He pointed out that WTO membership will also have an “economic effect”. For example, he explained, during the privatisation process, an enterprise that would have sold for €50 million would have garnered at least an additional €10 million more
“We are now brought to a position to simultaneously negotiate with both the EU and WTO. If everything had been done more efficiently, we would have been negotiating first with the WTO, and then with the EU”, Parivodic said.
He said that by joining the WTO, and especially the EU, Serbia will have easier access to international institutions’ cash funds.
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