The WTO General Council held a regular meeting at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization in Geneva (Swiss Confederation). Turkmenistan's application for obtaining WTO observer status was considered during the meeting. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, the meeting was attended by the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Office in Geneva. The representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, the Ministry of Finance and Economy took part in the meeting in the videoconference format. A special ceremony was organized on the occasion of consideration of Turkmenistan's application for obtaining the WTO observer status. Speaking during the ceremony, the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan outlined the concrete benefits that WTO membership would bring to Turkmenistan, such as ensuring stability of the national economy, strengthening its positions in foreign trade, developing multilateral cooperation, attracting foreign investments, and also giving impetus to the development of those areas, where Turkmenistan is competitive in world markets. A number of representatives of the WTO member states, including Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Mongolia, Panama, Paraguay, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Uruguay, endorsed Turkmenistan's initiative to join WTO as an observer. After the discussions, the member states of the WTO General Council adopted a unanimous decision to grant a WTO observer status to Turkmenistan. Currently, 164 states are members of the WTO. The WTO also has 24 observer states. Turkmenistan became the 25th observer country.