Uzbekistan Aims to Complete WTO Accession Process by 2026

Uzbekistan has reaffirmed its strategic goal of finalizing its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by 2026. The announcement was made during the latest meeting of the Working Party on Uzbekistan's accession, where significant progress in the country's reform agenda was acknowledged.

Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev, leading a high-level delegation of 20 government officials, stated Tashkent's commitment to maintaining a "strong momentum" in the negotiations. He expressed gratitude for the Working Party's support and confirmed Uzbekistan's readiness for constructive dialogue to resolve remaining issues in a spirit of partnership.

The ongoing economic reforms in Uzbekistan are explicitly designed to align with WTO requirements, preparing the nation to become a responsible and predictable participant in the global trading system. Khodjaev emphasized that enhanced inter-agency coordination is key to fulfilling obligations for deeper integration into the world economy.

Participants at the meeting commended Uzbekistan's advancements, including reforms in several critical areas. Discussions focused on state-owned enterprises, technical barriers to trade, sanitary measures, intellectual property rights, and agriculture. The current draft of the Working Party Report now contains 62 draft commitments, an increase from 56 in the previous version.

A major milestone highlighted was the completion of bilateral market access negotiations. To date, 30 such agreements have been deposited with the WTO Secretariat, five of which—with Ecuador, the European Union, Paraguay, Russia, and Uruguay—were finalized after the last meeting. The deputy prime minister assured that efforts continue to conclude any remaining bilateral talks.

The Chair of the Working Party, Ambassador Sun-yong Choi of South Korea, noted "impressive progress since 2020" and stated that a key block of negotiations is on the final stretch. She stressed the importance of sustaining momentum and plans to convene another meeting before summer to assist with resolving outstanding matters.

This marked the 12th session of Uzbekistan's Working Party. The country first applied for WTO membership in 1994 and has been actively negotiating with member states since 2020.