By RIA Novosti
Sydney : Russia’s envoy to a 21-nation Pacific Rim economic alliance said Australia and other countries in the region support Moscow’s bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Vasily Dobrovolsky’s comments came after a meeting with senior officials of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as part of the eight-day forum of the organisation, which opened in Sydney Sunday.
“We hope to join the WTO soon, and we are thankful to Australia and other APEC members, who back our early accession to the WTO,” Dobrovolsky said, adding that he hoped APEC’s support would be reflected in a final document of APEC meetings.
Leaders of APEC nations, including the presidents of Russia, China, the US, Japan, and South Korea, will meet for a summit in Sydney Sep 8-9. APEC countries make up around 60 percent of the global economy.
Russia has been seeking WTO membership since September 2005 and hopes to finally join the trade bloc by the end of this year.
The latest round of bilateral and multilateral talks on Russia’s bid was held in Geneva in late July and focussed on customs regulations and the performance of free economic zones. Russia’s state agricultural subsidies were also high on the agenda as the most sensitive issue, as WTO members consider Russia’s projected subsidies of $9.2 billion per year to be excessive.