Uzbekistan commits to maintaining "strong momentum" to accede to WTO in 2026

The high-level delegation from Tashkent comprised 20 senior government officials, including Azizbek Urunov, Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on the WTO and Chief Negotiator, Akhadbek Khaydarov, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, and Makhmud Istamov, Deputy Minister of Justice. Other senior government officials and experts from a range of ministries and agencies joined virtually from Tashkent. 

Noting that Uzbekistan's ongoing economic reforms are aimed at meeting accession requirements and preparing Uzbekistan to become "a responsible and predictable participant in the global trading system", Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev asked for members' continued "engagement and constructive cooperation". He noted that by strengthening cross-governmental agency collaboration, Uzbekistan has been seeking to fulfil its "commitment to deeper integration into the global economy and alignment with the principles of the multilateral trading system."

Commending Uzbekistan for the progress made thus far, including on reforms, members asked about state owned enterprises, technical barriers to trade and sanitary measures, intellectual property and agriculture, among other topics. The current revision of the draft Working Party Report comprises 62 draft commitments, up from 56 in the previous version. Progress was made on the examination of draft commitments during the meeting and members will continue this work following the meeting.

Members also congratulated Uzbekistan on recently concluding several market access bilateral negotiations. To date, 30 agreements have been deposited with the WTO Secretariat - five since the last Working Party meeting. These are agreements with Ecuador, the European Union, Paraguay, the Russian Federation and Uruguay. Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev stressed that Uzbekistan is "making every effort to bring the bilateral market access negotiations to an end."

Commending Uzbekistan for "the impressive progress made since 2020" in the market access negotiations, the Chair of the Working Party, Ambassador Sung-yo Choi (Republic of Korea), congratulated members and Uzbekistan on bringing "this pillar very close to conclusion." She urged parties "to finalize their necessary engagements as soon as possible."

Next steps

"It is evident that momentum has been maintained for this accession," Ambassador Choi said.

Welcoming "the support of the entire membership", she highlighted parties' "continuing engagement to bring this accession closer to the finishing line in the coming months." She encouraged WTO members and Uzbekistan to sustain progress and said she aimed to convene the next Working Party meeting before the summer. Ambassador Choi reiterated her availability to help facilitate the resolution of any outstanding issue in the meantime.

This was the 12^th meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan applied for WTO membership in 1994 and has actively been negotiating its membership terms with WTO members since 2020.

More information on Uzbekistan's accession process can be found here.

Information about WTO accessions is available here.