Uzbekistan completes negotiations with Switzerland on WTO accession

TASHKENT. July 22 (Interfax) - Uzbekistan has completed negotiations with Switzerland on joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Azizbek Urunov, the representative of the president of the country on WTO issues, said.

"In Geneva, we signed a protocol on the completion of negotiations on a membership agreement with Switzerland as part of the process of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO," Urunov posted on his social media page.

Urunov said that Uzbekistan still has to hold bilateral negotiations with several more WTO members.

Late last year, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the country's accession to the WTO was entering its final stage.

In early June 2024, the authorities rescinded the exclusive economic rights of several large state-owned companies in the metallurgy and chemical industries, as well as in the energy sectors, in order to accelerate market reforms and harmonize national legislation with WTO requirements.

Uzbekistan received observer status in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in June 1994, and a working negotiating group on WTO accession was established in 1998, though the negotiations were then suspended.

Work on WTO accession was resumed by Uzbekistan in 2017. In July 2019, the Uzbek side submitted an updated memorandum on the foreign trade regime to the WTO for consideration of the country's application for accession to the organization. At the end of June 2022, negotiations between the Uzbek side and WTO member countries on the terms of accession began.

At the end of May 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev announced during the talks at the WTO headquarters in Geneva Uzbekistan's intention to become a member of the organization by 2026.