Tashkent hosts a workshop on resumption of the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO

The Republic of Uzbekistan applied for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994. To date, three meetings of the Working Group, consisting of WTO members, were held. The last of the three meetings was held in 2005. Since then, the process of Uzbekistan’s accession has been passive, as there was no formal interaction with WTO members. However, recently the Government of the country at a high political level informed of its commitment and readiness to resume the process of accession to the WTO.

The workshop is aimed at strengthening capacity of government bodies’ representatives of Uzbekistan, directly involved in the accession process. In addition, important tasks of this seminar are mutual training and exchange of experience of past negotiations, informing the public about joining the WTO and supporting the accession efforts.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sakhib Saifnazarov thanked the USAID Agency and the World Bank Group for their help in organizing this event.

Sakhib Saifnazarov assured that Uzbekistan is committed to further liberalizing trade and promoting open markets, and this workshop is one of the important practical steps on the way of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO.

The speakers at the event include representatives of the USAID office in Uzbekistan, representatives of the WTO and the World Bank Group.

During the seminar, the current situation of the process of Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO, further necessary steps was discussed. Also, the speakers presented the business case for joining the WTO and the main provisions of the organization’s agreements.