GENEVA: The 160-member World Trade Organisation (WTO) is in active discussions with 10 countries aiming to become members, including Kazakh­stan and Afghanistan, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said in a report on Tuesday.

Seychelles is set to take the 161st spot, since its membership is sewn up and only needs domestic ratification. But several bigger countries are queuing up, led by Kazakhstan.

“The accession negotiations of Kazakhstan are at an advanced stage of maturity and on the threshold of conclusion, as soon as the remaining decisions are taken,” Azevedo said.

“On current pace, I believe that the stage should be set for a formal decision by the General Council early in the new year.”

Afghanistan could follow, having got a draft deal agreed in March. However, the final deal still requires “appropriate signalling from Kabul”, which had postponed a final meeting to seal the deal, the director general said.

“This accession is queued up for conclusion,” he wrote.

“At present, based on internal Secretariat assessments, possible opportunities for progress exist in the accessions negotiations for Algeria, the Bahamas, Bela­rus and Serbia.”

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014