Ethiopia's WTO Bid: Negotiators Meet Global Partners for Support

On March 21, 2025 (ENA), Ethiopia’s WTO accession negotiation team, headed by Chief Negotiator and Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, Kassahun Gofe, engaged in significant talks with various development partners in Addis Ababa.

The conversation took place at the 5th WTO Working Group Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ethiopia has held fruitful discussions with several development partners regarding the assistance needed for the nation to attain complete membership in the WTO.

At the meeting, Minister of Trade and Regional Integration as well as lead WTO accession negotiator Kassahun Gofe highlighted that these conversations were part of an ongoing dialogue from the prior day’s 5th Working Group negotiations.

In the course of the meeting, major stakeholders such as the World Bank, the European Union, India, China, the European Investment Fund, and the World Trade Center reiterated their dedication to offering not only financial but also technical support to Ethiopia during the entire accession period.

During the margins of the conference, Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, as well as the principal negotiator for their country’s entry into the WTO, Kassahun Gofe, engaged in talks with the WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. They discussed the ongoing negotiations related to Ethiopia’s bid to join the WTO.

"The minister reported on his social media platform that they had a productive conversation with the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, regarding the WTO membership negotiations in their nation," he stated.

He stated, "We informed her about the advancements in both our bilateral and multilateral talks conducted up until now, and emphasized the areas that will demand joint effort from all of us moving forward."

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated that facilitating Ethiopia’s membership in the World Trade Organization is among her primary goals and promised consistent backing for this initiative.

Moreover, she told us that she plans to formally contact the African Group and member states to gain backing for Ethiopia’s negotiation of membership accessions, the minister added.

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