WTO, 20 Years in the Service of the World Economy

Abstract

The year 2015 is not just a new number in the calendar; this year is very significant anniversary for existence and successfully functioning of the largest organization that has the largest responsibility for continuous world trade and keeping the stability of the world trading system. This year the World Trade Organization (WTO) celebrates 20 years of successfully regulating the world trade flows, 20 years of successfully adjustment and harmonization of economic and trade policies of the member countries and 20 years of adjustment and satisfying the interests of all countries in the world regardless their level of development, aiming to achieve the Millennium Goals. The set-outs of the institutionalization of the world trading system were not simple at all and they have started many years ago before the official establishment of the WTO. In those years also, the main goal was establishing a system that will put under control and regulate the international trade and the protection measures that were used in the same. The process of establishing the present system of rules, regulations, provisions and agreements for regulating the world trading system was getting across several stages, from which the last and actual now is still not finished. The ongoing Dora Round of negotiations hopefully will end this year with a successful decisions form which especially will benefit the Developing countries. In this respect, ministers from every WTO member finally took a major step in updating multilateral rules by unanimously agreeing to the so-called Bali Package. The 10 decisions which make up the package have economic significance by themselves, particularly for developing countries, but together they also opened a new chapter for multilateral trade negotiations. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2p527