Membership in the World Trade Organization as a balance of rights and obligations is the topic of an OSCE-organized online seminar held in Ashgabat on 2 September 2020. The main goal of the seminar is to present the best practices of OSCE participating States in going through the WTO negotiation process and facilitate discussions on possible steps for further expansion of the national trade policy. The seminar brought together specialists of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, as well as financial institutions and other agencies of Turkmenistan. Opening the seminar, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, Natalya Drozd congratulated Turkmenistan on obtaining WTO observer status. “We initiated this seminar in support of consistent efforts undertaken by Turkmenistan in order to boost the development of the national economy and strengthen international co-operation as well as to intensify and optimize foreign trade and improve the investment climate”, underlined Natalya Drozd in her address. During the webinar, a WTO representative, international experts from Georgia and Montenegro told about the structure of the organization and shared their country’s experiences establishing WTO membership.