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Nepal becomes WTO member

Cambodia hopes to follow soon

AFP, Geneva
Nepal became the 147th member of the World Trade Organisation on Friday and the first very poor country to join since 1995 while memberin-waiting Cambodia said it hoped to enter the trading club "soon".
Least developed countries are keen to join the WTO to gain access to new markets even if it means enduring tough negotiations with powerful member states such as the United States, the European Union and Japan.
"It opens up opportunities for Nepal as it enables us to be a part of the multilateral trading system," said Binod Acharya, a trade diplomat at Nepal's permanent mission in Geneva, where the world trade body is headquartered.
"There are many oppotunities and membership of the WTO helps us to explore these opportunities," he told AFP in a recent interview.
Nepal aims to attract foreign interest with its farming and hydro-
power industries as well as a growing tourism sector based around the country's mountainous terrain which attracts many visitors each year, Acharya said.
"The WTO regime gives predictability and because of this predictability people from outside will have no doubt to invest in Nepal," he explained.
The country, which mainly produces garments and carpets for export, also hopes to expand into new exporting areas such as electronics products.
Cambodia, which must wait until a new government is formed to ratify its accession agreement, felt the benefits of WTO membership outweigh the concessions a country must make before joining.
"If you want to race in a marathon you have to be a runner. You cannot stay outside and look at everybody else running because the world is not how it used to be," said Cambodia's ambassador to the WTO, Suos Someth.
"We have to compete whether we likeit or not," he toldAFP.
Foreigners are morelikely to invest in a country that has joined the WTO and "this provides employment and opportunities for the people," said Someth.
Cabodia also planned to broaden its trading platform from clothes and shoes once it enters the WTO, but for now its citizens must wait until the country appoints a new government following parliamentary elections nine months ago.
"I hope this will come very soon. I cannot give you the date but I hope it will be soon," Someth said, when asked when the country would ratify its WTO agreement, adding thatit would hopefully be within six months.
Some 24 developing nations -- including Russia and the Ukraine -- hope to join Nepal and eventually Cambodia byjoining the WTO, which already has 30 least developed members.