Following the successful sixth meeting of the Working Group on Timor-Leste's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Deputy Prime Minister and WTO Chief Negotiator Francisco Kalbuadi Lay hopes Timor-Leste will become the 165th member of the WTO by 2024.

"We are very happy with the outcome of this meeting. Hopefully Timor-Leste will join the WTO as a full member in February next year," Kalbuadi said after a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, October 12, 2023.

On behalf of the Government of Timor-Leste, Kalbuadi expressed his deepest appreciation to the Working Group and other relevant parties who have worked tirelessly for Timor-Leste's accession to the WTO.

At the fifth meeting of the Working Group on Timor-Leste's accession on 20 April, WTO members welcomed strong and sustained efforts by Timorese authorities to complete accession to the WTO at the 13th Ministerial Meeting (MC13) to be held in February 2024.

Timorese President Jose Ramos Horta and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in remarks at the meeting conveyed the importance of a quick settlement for Timor-Leste's accession and the multilateral trading system as a whole.

President Ramos Horta in his remarks said Timor-Leste is fully committed as the smallest developing country to adhere to the objective principles and regulations of the WTO, and implement domestic and legislative reforms and structural policies.

Timor-Leste formally presented its application for WTO membership in November 2016.

On 7 December 2016, the WTO General Council began the formation of a Working Group to evaluate the Government of Timor-Leste's application to join the WTO pursuant to Article 12 of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO.

During this meeting Timor-Leste had the opportunity to introduce progress on reforms and commitments needed before becoming a member of the WTO.

"It also allows discussions with other OPD members about the terms of Timor-Leste's accession to this trade organization. The agenda of the Working Group meeting includes discussions on various topics such as trade policy, legal framework, and market access commitments," the press release said.

This Working Group Meeting is a continuation of the previous series of meetings held by the Government of Timor Leste, starting from the first Working Group Meeting on 1 October 2020, followed by the second meeting on 29 July 2021, the third on 29 April 2022, the fourth on 30 September 2022, and the fifth on 20 April 2023.

After concluding the meeting, in a plenary session of the Deputy Prime Minister, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, and the Minister of Tourism and Environment as Timor-Leste's Chief Negotiator for the WTO, Francisco Kalbuady Lay continued to conclude bilateral negotiations related to market entry with Ambassador Katherine Tai of the United States through the signing of a bilateral agreement between the two countries.

Previously, the Government of Timor-Leste had concluded bilateral agreements related to market accession with seven other OPD member countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Cambodia, the European Union, the Philippines and Canada.

Therefore, in the next few months, Timor-Leste will diligently try to resolve the remaining questions and provide additional documents including finalizing bilateral agreements with other WTO member countries, such as Indonesia and Thailand.