WTO Workshop in Adama Increases Understanding of WTO Accession

THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007 - A regional World Trade Organization (WTO) Awareness Workshop will be held June 14-15, 2007 in Adama to increase understanding of the WTO and the implications of Ethiopia’s plans to join the WTO.  Nearly 100 business people, regional government officials and academics from 20 cities in the Oromia region will participate in the two-day workshop, which is the fourth in a series of regional workshops.  

The seminar is organized by the USAID Doha Project for WTO Accession and Participation – Ethiopia in collaboration with the WTO Affairs Department of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), the Oromia National Government – Trade, Industry and Transportation Bureau, and the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectorial Associations.  The city chambers of Adama also assisted with the organization of the seminar.  The workshop will be opened by State Minister Ahmed Tussa and Ato Abdi Taha, Head of the President’s Office of the Oromia Regional Government. Presenters at the seminar include members of the WTO Affairs Department of MoTI and staff from the USAID WTO Accession Project. 

In December of last year, the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) submitted the Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime (MFTR) to the WTO Secretariat.  Submission of the MFTR marks the beginning of the most active and important phases in the accession process.  A number of donors, including the United States through USAID, are supporting the WTO accession process through technical assistance programs.  The USAID Doha project, administered by the US firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has assisted a number of countries with WTO accession and has been working at MoTI since 2005, reviewing existing laws and regulations and helping to draft new ones.  This legal work is an essential part of the accession process.  Becoming a member of the WTO will help Ethiopia realize its potential by improving its international competitiveness.  This, in turn, will help Ethiopia to increase exports, reduce poverty, and raise the standard of living for all of its citizens.

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