The decision to grant Turkmenistan observer status in the WTO was made on July 22 during a regular meeting of the General Council of the World Trade Organization, held at the headquarters of the organization in Geneva, the website of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan reports.

The decision was made unanimously after discussions of the member countries of the General Council of the WTO, the information says.

The Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Office in Geneva, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministries of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan took part in the meeting in the format of a videoconference.

Obtaining observer status by Turkmenistan will contribute to the dynamic development of the national economy, help attract foreign investment and develop international trade relations, the country's Foreign Ministry said.

A number of representatives of the member states of the organization, including Afghanistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Panama, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine, expressed support for the initiative of Turkmenistan to join the WTO as an observer.

Currently, 164 states are members of the WTO. 24 countries have observer status. Turkmenistan became the 25th country in observer status.