00-3484 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/189
8 September 2000
Albania joins the WTO
Albania became 138th member of the World Trade Organization today (8th September).  WTO
Director-General Mike Moore greeted the event by saying: "I welcome Albania into the multilateral
trading system.  Membership promises a more prosperous future and raised living standards for allAlbanian citizens.  I also believe that, by encouraging the trade links between countries, the WTO can
help foster greater peace, stability and development in south-eastern Europe.  Albania's membership
brings this Organization ever closer to being a truly 'World Trade Organization'."
Albania has agreed to assume its WTO obligations upon accession. In addition, it will sign on
to the two plurilateral agreements on government procurement and on trade in civil aircraft. Albania's
accession package includes market-access commitments on goods and services.
Within the region, Slovenia is already a member of the WTO and Croatia will become a
member upon completion of the ratification procedures. Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are in the process of negotiating their accession to the WTO.
Albania applied for GATT 1947 membership in 1992. Negotiations on Albania's terms of
accession to WTO started in earnest in 1998. The WTO General Council adopted the final results of
these negotiations on 17 July 2000.
During that General Council meeting, Alba nia's Minister for Economic Cooperation and
Trade, Ermelinda Meksi, said that WTO membership "presents us with a new role in the international
community" and would help bring "improvement of the wellbeing and prosperity of my people."
Overall, 30 governments are currently negoti ating to join the WTO: Algeria, Andorra,
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia a nd Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, People's
Republic of China, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kazakstan, Lao People's Democratic
Republic, Lebanon, Lithuania, Moldova, Nepal, Oman, Russian Federation, Samoa, Saudi Arabia,
Seychelles, Sudan, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Ukra ine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Yemen.PRESS/189
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ENDMerchandise trade by product and region, 1998 -  Albania
(major product groups)
(Million dollars)
North America Western Europe C./E: Europe/
Baltic States/CISWorld
exp imp exp imp exp imp exp imp
Agricultural products 0.90 4.51 36.44 208.04 0.51 20.55 38.58 238.81
Food 0.49 4.48 19.17 196.07 0.15 20.28 20.39 226.51
Manufactures 0.04 4.21 139.55 509.72 0.78 31.74 140.50 558.67
Semi-manufactures
(other than chemicals)0.02 0.62 11.16 118.83 0.22 4.92 11.52 125.81
Clothing 0.00 0.01 67.48 50.10 0.32 0.51 67.81 51.05
Consumer goods
(other than textiles and clothing)0.01 0.49 50.99 88.29 0.17 1.91 51.17 92.25
Total merchandise  a 3.47 9.07 201.38 759.89 1.97 52.92 207.67 840.76
a  Includes unspecified products
Source : Comstudy/Comtrade, august 10, 2000