RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/ACC/2
9June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1532)
Original: English
EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Request forObserver Status inAccession Working Parties
Thefollowing communication hasbeenreceived fromtheEuropean Bank forReconstruction
andDevelopment.
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Iwould liketoreiterate ourinterest inmonitoring trade-related developments incountries in
which theEBRD hasorisconsidering financial engagements, many ofwhich areseeking accession
totheWTO. Among others, ourstrong interest intrade isdemonstrated bychapters 7and8ofthe
EBRD 'sTransition Report.*
Iwould likespecifically torequest permission fortheEBRD toattend meetings oftheWorking
Party ontheAccession ofLatvia inanobserver capacity andtoreceive relevant documentation. Some
ofthechanges thatarecurrently taking placeinLatvia 'strading environment could haveadirect bearing
ontheperformance ofEBRD investment projects. Many projects under consideration, inparticular
intheprivate andrecently privatized sector, derive partoftheirrationale from Latvia 'sgeographic
position, openness totrade andexpected market access tomajor trading partners. Webelieve that
wecanbetter serve Latvia 'sinterests ifweareinformed about thecountry 'sprogress towards WTO
membership andifwecanidentify problems astheyarise. Wecould also,ifrequested, provide insights
totheWTO ontheeconomies inquestion, particularly regarding theinvestment environment.
Many ofthearguments presented above apply equally toother countries. Ifyouareagreeable,
thisletter could perhaps alsoserve asarequest forobserver status inthecaseofother countries within
theEBRD 'sremit asmeetings arescheduled forWorking Parties onAccession.
Forthesame reasons, wewould alsobeinterested inparticipating inanobserver capacity in
meetings oftheCommittee onBalance ofPayments Restrictions onthose countries.
*TheTransition Report isavailable intheAccessions Division (Room 2076) forconsultation.