BALI, Dec 11 – Thailand and Afghanistan have signed a bilateral negotiations protocol under World Trade Organization (WTO) procedures as Afghanistan has joined WTO as a least developed country (LDC).
The Thai-Afghan accord was achieved at WTO’s Ninth Ministerial Conference, held in Bali, Indonesia, December 3-7.
Caretaker Deputy Minister/Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan witnessed signing ceremony in Bali.
Afghanistan accepted Thailand’s offers on two traded items — fresh durian, and tuna products (including skipjack and bonito). It lowers tariff for fresh durian to 10 per cent, from originally 16 per cent, while the tariff for tuna products is agreed to be slashed to 5 per cent, from the original 10 per cent.
Afghanistan is a landlocked LDC country and has been facing economic, social and political problems, as well as a long civil war.
