Timor-Leste and WTO Accession
World Trade Organization (WTO) accession is a challenging process typically commanding a heavy price in terms of resources and time expended while also calling for the expense of non-trivial political capital by an acceding country’s policymakers. Nevertheless, gaining membership of the world trade body represents a once in a generation opportunity for acceding countries to embark upon and sustain a set of deep structural reforms seldom possible in the absence of binding policy commitments. Timor-Leste is a young nation facing a set of unique challenges as it nears the completion of its WTO accession process. While WTO and subsequently Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) accession can help Timor-Leste address and overcome many of the above challenges, neither of these outcomes can - nor should be expected to - produce miracles by themselves. This report considers the case for Timor-Leste to bring its quest for WTO accession to a successful conclusion. It advances a set of arguments designed to help the country’s policymakers in their dialogue with domestic stakeholders and constituents of the benefits that the Timorese economy and its citizens stand to derive from placing the country’s trade ties to the world market on a stable and predictable global footing. This report is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers a brief overview of Timor-Leste’s recent trade performance and the overall macro-economic context within which the country’s quest for WTO accession takes place. Part 2 provides an overview of the WTO accession process and its legal and institutional implications for Timor-Leste. Part 3 of the report focuses on WTO accession and how it can be leveraged to achieve long-run economic growth. The report concludes with a call for Timor-Leste to maintain the strong existing momentum of its accession journey while also managing expectations of the short-term impacts of WTO accession.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Report biblioteca |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC: World Bank
2024-02-27
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| Subjects: | WTO ACCESSION, ASEAN, LEGAL IMPLICATIONS, INSTITUTIONAL IMPLICATIONS, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099021424195018981/P1807501ee78170e61b25614d3278e85911 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/41116 |
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| Summary: | World Trade Organization (WTO)
accession is a challenging process typically commanding a
heavy price in terms of resources and time expended while
also calling for the expense of non-trivial political
capital by an acceding country’s policymakers. Nevertheless,
gaining membership of the world trade body represents a once
in a generation opportunity for acceding countries to embark
upon and sustain a set of deep structural reforms seldom
possible in the absence of binding policy commitments.
Timor-Leste is a young nation facing a set of unique
challenges as it nears the completion of its WTO accession
process. While WTO and subsequently Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) accession can help Timor-Leste address
and overcome many of the above challenges, neither of these
outcomes can - nor should be expected to - produce miracles
by themselves. This report considers the case for
Timor-Leste to bring its quest for WTO accession to a
successful conclusion. It advances a set of arguments
designed to help the country’s policymakers in their
dialogue with domestic stakeholders and constituents of the
benefits that the Timorese economy and its citizens stand to
derive from placing the country’s trade ties to the world
market on a stable and predictable global footing. This
report is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers a brief
overview of Timor-Leste’s recent trade performance and the
overall macro-economic context within which the country’s
quest for WTO accession takes place. Part 2 provides an
overview of the WTO accession process and its legal and
institutional implications for Timor-Leste. Part 3 of the
report focuses on WTO accession and how it can be leveraged
to achieve long-run economic growth. The report concludes
with a call for Timor-Leste to maintain the strong existing
momentum of its accession journey while also managing
expectations of the short-term impacts of WTO accession. |
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