TALKS ON CROATIA'S ACCESSION INTO WTO PROCEEDING WELL

( Editorial: --> 4998 ) GENEVA, May 19 (Hina) - Croatian Economy Minister Nenad Porges who is attending the second ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva on Tuesday held talks with the WTO deputy general director, Chel-su Kim, about Croatia's admission into the organisation. Kim described the process of Croatia's accession so far as very successful. He added that Croatia belonged to the circle of countries which could enter the WTO soon. The Croatian negotiation delegation so far participated in three sessions of the Working Group for Admission and held five rounds of bilateral talks with a total of 15 countries who had shown interest in negotiations on customs conditions for the export of goods to the Croatian market and on conditions for providing services on the Croatian market. Porges announced that the Croatian delegation would in June hold a sixth round of bilateral talks. Porges and Kim agreed that Croatia could complete the admission procedure by the start of a new round of global negotiations, preparations for which will begin this September. With the aim of a more successful cooperation between the WTO and Croatia, Porges and Kim applauded the announced visit of the director of the Department for Admission into the WTO, Arif Hussain, to Croatia in the beginning of June. The Croatian delegation on Tuesday also held talks with delegations from Hungary, China and Turkey, and Porges met briefly with the main US trade representative, Charlene Barshefsky. (hina) lm/mrb jn 191537 MET may 98