Uzbekistan Shows Progress in WTO Accession Talks

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — During the meeting of the Working Party on Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), held on 5–6 November, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev reaffirmed Tashkent’s commitment to joining the WTO at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for March 2026.

Khodjaev emphasized Uzbekistan’s readiness to continue work on the remaining issues and expressed gratitude to WTO members for their support throughout the negotiation process.

The Uzbek delegation included thirty senior officials, among them Azizbek Urunov, the Presidential Representative to the WTO and Chief Negotiator; Akhadbek Khaydarov, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance; and Mahmud Istamov, Deputy Minister of Justice. Other experts and ministry representatives joined the discussions via videoconference.

During the meeting, Khodjaev reiterated Uzbekistan’s determination to complete the accession process and align its trade regime with WTO standards. He noted that since the previous Working Party meeting in June, substantial progress had been achieved in harmonizing technical barriers and sanitary and phytosanitary measures with international norms.

“Uzbekistan has reached a decisive moment. Our reforms are maturing, and the institutional foundations of a market economy are becoming stronger. What remains is to complete our collective effort so that the people of our country can experience the benefits of these difficult but necessary transformations,” he stressed.

WTO members commended Uzbekistan’s progress in aligning its trade and economic regime with the organization’s rules. They noted that the meeting provided an important opportunity to assess progress and review ongoing reforms, particularly in privatization, competition, and the regulation of technical barriers to trade. Representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank also took part in the discussions.

Despite the achievements, several members of the Working Party pointed out the need for further reforms to achieve full compliance with WTO standards. The meeting reviewed a revised draft report of the Working Party outlining Uzbekistan’s commitments, and members congratulated the country on recently completing several bilateral negotiations.

The Chair of the Working Party, Ambassador Song-yo Choi of the Republic of Korea, appointed in July 2025, praised Uzbekistan for its constructive engagement and steady progress, noting that the country is approaching the final stage of accession.

She emphasized that only a few bilateral negotiations remain at an advanced stage and highlighted the importance of support from WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, whose high-level meetings with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Presidential Administration helped maintain momentum in the process.

In her closing remarks, Ambassador Choi urged all parties to focus on resolving the remaining issues, noting that the Working Party would finalize its review by the end of the year and define the next steps toward MC14 and beyond in 2026.

This was the eleventh meeting of the Working Party on Uzbekistan’s WTO accession. Uzbekistan applied for WTO membership in 1994, and active negotiations on the terms of accession have been underway since 2020.