Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 16 April, in a video conference format, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov held talks with the Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Alan Wolff.

During the dialogue, the current state and prospects of the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO were discussed, in particular, the issue of holding 4 meetings of the Working Group on this issue.

It was noted that the tangible results of large-scale transformations in Uzbekistan, carried out under the leadership of the Head of State, contribute to a positive attitude towards Uzbekistan of key WTO member countries. Moreover, international experts give a good assessment of the pace and level of preparation of documents related to the entry of the republic into the WTO.

The Uzbek side was informed that, taking into account the current epidemiological situation, since mid-March of this year, all official activities within the WTO have been suspended.

In this regard, on 17 April 2020, informal consultations of member states on the issue of the resumption of the functioning of the main bodies of the WTO in the remote mode using information and communication technologies begin.

In the case of a positive decision by Member States to resume its work remotely, the priority issue is the early holding of regular meetings of working groups on the accession of candidate states, including Uzbekistan.

Alan Wolff assured the readiness of the WTO Secretariat to provide comprehensive support to Uzbekistan in the process of the republic joining this organization, for which he called on the Uzbek side to intensify joint work in this direction.

As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached to continue working together with the WTO headquarters remotely to accelerate and qualitatively promote the initiatives being developed in the negotiation process.