Follow-up issues in accession and implementation of the WTO system for Azerbaijan

In the 21st century, knowledge is the key factor in determining a country’s level of socio-economic development. From this recognition, the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP) was launched in 2004 by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Development Institute (KDI). The KSP is designed to contribute to the socio-economic development of the targeted development partnership country by sharing Korea’s development experience and knowledge. The most distinguishing characteristic of the KSP is that it is demand-driven and participation-oriented. The program analyzes the problems from the partnership country’s perspective and provides policy implications that are not far-reaching but can be practically implemented in the environment of the partnership country. For Azerbaijan, the Knowledge Sharing Program was initially launched when the Azerbaijani Government showed deep interest in the Program when former President Roh Moo-Hyun visited Azerbaijan in May 2006.

The first one-year Knowledge Sharing Program for Azerbaijan was successfully completed in 2008, and in response to the Azerbaijani Government’s request for its continued participation in the program, the MOSF and the KDI have decided to extend it for another year in order to help the Azerbaijani Government take the initial step forward in implementing the policy recommendations from the first KSP project.

Through an extensive survey of the Azerbaijani Government and agencies, the KDI and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the counterpart organization, decided to tackle the issues of post- Azerbaijan’s WTO accession. These are:

<ul>
<li>Current Issues in Services and Negotiation Strategy</li>
<li>Import Policy and Development of Tariff Mechanism in the WTO System</li>
<li>Strategies in Agricultural Negotiation of Azerbaijan for WTO Accession</li>
<li>Analysis of Azerbaijan’s Export Structure and its Implications for Diversification Strategy.</li>
</ul>

These subtopics focus on the issues of negotiation techniques and potential problems, with their possible solutions, arising from WTO accession by Azerbaijan.