Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Kabul (BNA) 25 Afghans are covered by World Trade Organization (WTO) in Indian capital, New Delhi, Indian embassy said Tuesday.
In continuation of its assistance in this area, India’s Ministry of Commerce through its Centre for WTO Studies in Delhi has invited 25 Afghan officials dealing with trade in different Ministries in Kabul to attend a 10 day long specialized training on all aspects of the WTO and global trade, the embassy said in a statement.
Realizing that membership of the WTO also imposes several legal and fiscal responsibilities the Government of India has been very supportive of skill and capacity development of the trade negotiators in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is at the cusp of joining the WTO having completed most of the accession formalities.
Afghanistan will be the 35th Least Developed Country (LDC) member of this rules based organization and this status entails a few privileges and preferences that other more developed members can accord to her exports, improving over the basic guiding principle of global trade i.e. most favored nation (MFN) treatment. It was through this route that India went beyond its SAFTA commitments and removed all customs duty on Afghan exports. This training which takes place from 20-29 April, 2015 would cover a range of issues such as tariffs, trade in manufactured and agricultural products, and most importantly transit, which is enshrined as a right in the WTO. India is conscious of the critical location of Afghanistan, which though a land locked country sits at an important north south, east west crossroad in the very ‘Heart of Asia’. The potential of Afghanistan becoming a ‘round about’ in global trade, as Asian economies grow at an impressive pace, is for real, and well recognized by specialists and governments around the world and in the region.
Afghanistan can be the link between the energy, resources and products of Central Asia and South Asia as exemplified by projects such as TAPI and CASA 1000. Afghanistan to achieve its full economic potential requires deeper integration with the region through connectivity and infrastructure, through trade and investment.
It also requires modern laws and global practices and hence a well-trained cadre of trade officials is essential.
Indian is happy to be partnering Afghanistan in this endeavor.
