Curaçao one step closer to becoming a WTO member!

World Trade Organization (WTO) members agreed at a meeting of the General Council on the 3rd of March 2020 to establish a working party for the entry of Curaçao into the organization. Although Curaçao was already a member of the WTO as a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the island nation recently requested for membership as a separate customs union.

“This is a historic moment for Curaçao, which has been long in the making,” said Caryl M.C. Monte, Curaçao’s Chief Negotiator for WTO entry. “Our fundamental aspiration is to directly participate in the global trade dialogue and seek mutual economic progress by connecting to other trading partners, especially in our Caribbean region, based on a transparent set of multilateral and plurilateral trading and other commercial rules, administered on the basis of equality and irrespective of the size of the member countries represented in this esteemed world body.”

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Curaçao on the members’ acceptance of its application to accede to the WTO, so let me welcome Curaçao to this room. I wish Curaçao the best for a swift and successful accession process. I can also assure you that you can count on the Secretariat’s full support to make this a reality as soon as possible.”