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Algeria looks to ITC support for WTO accession

17 June 2014
ITC News
ITC’s expertise and experience in trade facilitation and development critical

Algeria’s Commerce Minister Amara Benyounes told the International Trade Centre’s Executive Director Arancha González that the organisation can play a role in helping his country to prepare for future accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to assist in export diversification, and help Algerian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to take capitalize on globalization.

In their talks at the ITC headquarters in Geneva on 16 June 2014, Mr. Benyounes said ITC can assist Algeria in trade negotiations as they can benefit from the organisation’s expertise in dealing with the private sector, as well as in trade facilitation and development. This move, he said, will enable Algeria to profit from the opportunities of a market economy.

Ms. Gonzalez expressed her strong support for Algeria's accession negotiations not only as a way of acceding to the multilateral trading system, but also as a great opportunity for the country to set its own agenda for economic change and the enhancement of SME competitiveness through technical assistance and sound mechanisms to promote public-private dialogue on trade development.

The Executive Director said trade can help in socio-economic transformation, and being a member of the WTO and complying with trade rules will enhance economic opportunities for Algeria.