GENEVA/ZAGREB, July 17 (Hina) - Croatia's admission to the World Trade Organisation entails all benefits belonging to a full-right WTO member, including market liberalisation, cuts in prices, and bigger export challenges, Croatia's
Economy Minister Goranko Fizulic said in Geneva on Monday. Earlier today, he signed a protocol on Croatia's admission into WTO. Fizulic said membership in WTO would affect the signing of free trade agreements with countries of the European Free Trade Agreement and the Central European Free Trade Association, whose starting point for mutual trade agreements are tariffs agreed as part of access to WTO. He estimates negotiations on those agreements could be completed by year's end. Simultaneously, Croatia will negotiate on free trade agreements with countries outside EFTA and CEFTA, such as the Baltic countries, as well as with Bosnia-Herzegovina an
GENEVA/ZAGREB, July 17 (Hina) - Croatia's admission to the World
Trade Organisation entails all benefits belonging to a full-right
WTO member, including market liberalisation, cuts in prices, and
bigger export challenges, Croatia's Economy Minister Goranko
Fizulic said in Geneva on Monday.
Earlier today, he signed a protocol on Croatia's admission into
WTO.
Fizulic said membership in WTO would affect the signing of free
trade agreements with countries of the European Free Trade
Agreement and the Central European Free Trade Association, whose
starting point for mutual trade agreements are tariffs agreed as
part of access to WTO. He estimates negotiations on those
agreements could be completed by year's end.
Simultaneously, Croatia will negotiate on free trade agreements
with countries outside EFTA and CEFTA, such as the Baltic
countries, as well as with Bosnia-Herzegovina and the European
Union.
Before signing the admission protocol, Minister Fizulic addressed
representatives of WTO's head council. He said Croatia's
government saw membership in WTO as significant for Croatia's
economic and trade policy, as well as for ongoing economic
reforms.
Fizulic said that even at this moment, Croatia's obligations and
legal frameworks were fully in compliance with the Uruguay circle
of obligations, and did not lag behind the obligations of current
member-states.
"Although representing a small economy, Croatia has to achieve a
significant growth in a relatively short time. It will do so by
increasing competition and export possibilities, with trade
liberalisation, economic integration, and attracting direct
foreign investments as the chief factors," Minister Fizulic said.
Croatia's admission to WTO was welcomed by CEFTA countries with
Estonia and Lithuania in a joint statement, and in separate
statements by Slovenia, Hungary, the EU, Turkey, the United States,
Japan, Canada, Ecuador on behalf of Latin America countries,
Pakistan, India, Egypt, Malta, Israel, and Singapore on behalf of
ASEAN countries.
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