Russia strikes WTO deal with US
10 Nov 2006
1
Mumbai:
Russia has reached a bilateral trade deal with Washington
to join the World Trade Organisation, reports quoting
Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists
and Entrepreneurs, said.
The deal, coming after 13 years of protracted negotiations, is likely to be formalised in Vietnam early next week, Sharonov, who is accompanying economy minister German Gref on a trip to Beijing, said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president George W. Bush are due to put their stamp on the deal when they meet in mid-November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi, Shokhin said.
A formal announcement is planned for later on the day, sources in Moscow said. The summit starts on November 18.
President Bush, meanwhile, is expected to make a stopover in Moscow on his way to the summit in Hanoi.
An agreement with the US is key to Russia's entry into the 149-member WTO. Talks between the two major powers over Russia's WTO entry have dragged on for 13 years, due mainly to Moscow's unwillingness to grant access to US meat imports and Washington's concerns about internet and video piracy in Russia.
Russia with its $1 trillion economy is currently the world's biggest non-WTO nation and expects a lift similar to that enjoyed by China after its accession to WTO in 2001.
The deal, coming after 13 years of protracted negotiations, is likely to be formalised in Vietnam early next week, Sharonov, who is accompanying economy minister German Gref on a trip to Beijing, said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president George W. Bush are due to put their stamp on the deal when they meet in mid-November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Hanoi, Shokhin said.
A formal announcement is planned for later on the day, sources in Moscow said. The summit starts on November 18.
President Bush, meanwhile, is expected to make a stopover in Moscow on his way to the summit in Hanoi.
An agreement with the US is key to Russia's entry into the 149-member WTO. Talks between the two major powers over Russia's WTO entry have dragged on for 13 years, due mainly to Moscow's unwillingness to grant access to US meat imports and Washington's concerns about internet and video piracy in Russia.
Russia with its $1 trillion economy is currently the world's biggest non-WTO nation and expects a lift similar to that enjoyed by China after its accession to WTO in 2001.
