Addis Ababa — Ethiopia and Japan have signed a Bilateral Market Access Protocol at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, marking another important milestone in Ethiopia's ongoing accession process to the global trade body.

The agreement was concluded by Tsegab Kebebew Daka, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland and Nagai Katsuro, Permanent Representative of Japan to the WTO.

With this latest agreement, Ethiopia has now concluded bilateral market access negotiations with seven WTO members including China, Turkey, Argentina, Russia, Brazil, Thailand, and Japan.

Ethiopia will continue working diligently to finalize and sign additional agreements with other WTO members in the coming months.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for the 7th Working Party Meeting on Ethiopia's WTO accession, scheduled to take place in April.

Ethiopian officials are working closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the country's accession to the WTO is successfully completed by 2026.