Context: Recently, Turkmenistan has been granted Observer status by the World Trade Organization (WTO ) General Council and has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with the trade body.

Key Points

• With this, Turkmenistan has become the last former Soviet republic to establish formal ties with WTO. 
• The Central Asian country filed a request for Observer status in May and expressed willingness to trigger the talks on accession to the WTO within five years.
• Neighbouring Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Afghanistan -- have acceded to the WTO, while Uzbekistan has been in on-and-off negotiations on WTO accession since 1994.

World Trade Organization

• It is an intergovernmental organization that is concerned with the regulation of international trade between nations.
• The WTO officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
• WTO is the largest international economic organization in the world.
• The foundation and importance of WTO lies in the  agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments
• It has 164 members and over 20 observer governments. 
• Its goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business in a harmonious, transparent and accountable manner.