WTO accession and the private sector: The nexus of rules and market opportunities

A country’s bid for WTO membership can promote a feeling of challenge and uncertainty among members of the private sector as the long-established methods of conducting business are susceptible to undergoing considerable change. In order to overcome the potential resistance to this change, acceding governments have responded to the concerns of their businesses by adopting strategies to raise awareness of the long-term benefits of reform during the negotiating period. In this chapter we document some of the benefits related to trade and investment for Article XII members that have undertaken awareness raising strategies and necessary reforms during their accession processes. This chapter underlines that accession commitments, which are critical to bringing about domestic policy and regulatory reforms, need to be implemented in the right spirit to develop business competitiveness in the long run.