At a meeting of the General Council on 22 July, WTO members agreed to grant Turkmenistan observer status in the organization. Turkmenistan, a state in Central Asia with a population of about 6.2 million, became the last former Soviet republic to establish a formal relationship with the WTO.

Turkmenistan submitted its request for observer status in May 2020, indicating its intent to initiate negotiations for WTO accession within a period of five years.

Full text & source: WTO