Timor Leste starts negotiations for joining WTO hinh anh 1Timor Leste starts negotiations for joining WTO  (Photo: Twitter)

Jakarta (VNA) - Timor Leste has kicked off official negotiations on join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

According to Joaquim Amaral, Timor Leste's Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs, joining the WTO would accelerate growth and economic diversification in the Southeast Asian country.

WTO member countries have expressed their support and commended the work done so far by authorities in the capital city of Dili, he said.

The Timor Leste government was fully committed to implement structural, legislative and policy reforms to live up to WTO rules.

WTO accession procedures usually last several years given the complexity of modern trade and the need for consensus among members. The next meeting on Timor's case could take place early 2021.

Timor Leste separated from Indonesia in 2002 after a referendum in 1999, in which the majority of Timor Leste's people voted in favour of independence./.
VNA