ARMENIA SELECTED AS ONE OF THE NINE PILOT COUNTRIES FOR UNIDO-WTO ENHANCED COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net - Today, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), UN Development Program (UNDP), World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Ministry of Trade and Economic Development of Armenia held a joint seminar to begin implementation of the Doha Development Agenda. Seminar participants included senior officials from the Government, donor community, international organizations, business associations, as well as experts. The main aims of the Doha Development Agenda, which was agreed in December 2001 by WTO members, are to ensure that trade and industrial development enhance economic development and to assist the integration of the developing countries and transition economies into the global economy and the multilateral trading system. In order to facilitate implementation of the Doha Agenda, UNIDO and WTO will implement pilot activities in an initial group of nine countries, including Armenia. The initial group also includes Bolivia, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, Ghana, Jordan, Kenya and Mauritania. The aim of these pilot activities is to identify priority sectors and products with high and strategic export potential; address trade capacity weaknesses including supply-side constraints, lack of conformity to market requirements and standards; and support the implementation of multilateral trade agreements.