Turkmenistan¿s potential accession to the WTO

Rustem Bekmyradov is an experienced market research specialist, project management professional and development consultant from Turkmenistan, focusing on economic growth, private sector development, competitiveness, business enabling environment, trade and export promotion.

With 98% of world trade being carried out by the 159 WTO members and further 24 countries negotiating to join the WTO, it is a matter of time for the remaining - mostly developing - countries, including Turkmenistan, to file for WTO application, especially if they want to develop competitive industries and access foreign export markets. This paper examines three conditions that can potentially have an effect on the level of WTO accession benefits in developing resource-rich countries and traces the mechanisms through which these conditions influence economic growth. The research findings suggests that countries that have achieved a greater level of industrialization by the time of WTO accession are better able to yield economic benefits from trade liberalization that the accession entails. This finding can encourage developing countries to help their industries upgrade their comparative advantage before they enter a competitive international trade environment through WTO accession.