The Bahamas, Cape Verde, Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau had their applications endorsed by the governing body’s Executive Committee at a meeting in Dubai.

Should the countries be accepted as members at the ITTF, the organisation claim they will be the first international federation to be present in all countries in the world.

Their membership would rise to 226, if approval comes at the meeting in Dusseldorf, Germany, on May 31.

ITTF President Thomas Weikert is scheduled to visit Guinea-Bissau, the last applicant, next month.

Weikert claimed the Executive Committee meeting had been a fruitful one, with proceedings having taken place at the offices of Falcon and Associates – a strategic advisory company working on behalf of the Dubai leadership.

“Thank you to our hosts Falcon and Associates for their warm hospitality in Dubai,” he said.

“Dubai is a beautiful city, and will be a perfect location to hold TTX events, the new anywhere, anytime form of table tennis.

“Today we had fruitful meetings, discussing the future strategy of the ITTF to grow the sport in all aspects.”

The Committee revised the propositions and resolutions to be presented to the AGM, as well as confirming the adoption of the ITTF Ethics Code for approval in May.

An update was provided by the ITTF marketing department on the recently signed agreement with Seamaster which sees the Chinese shipping company act as the title sponsor of the ITTF World Tour, Challenge Chile Open and Brazil Open.

The next Executive Committee meeting will be held on May 28, ahead of the AGM.

The AGM will take place during the ITTF World Championships in Dusseldorf, which will also see the election of the governing body’s President.

Weikert is facing the challenge of two rivals, with the German up against Qatar's current ITTF vice-president Khalil Al-Mohannadi and Belgium's Jean-Michel Saive, a former world number one.