Uzbekistan completed bilateral negotiations with Pakistan and Thailand as part of its accession process to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“The protocol [on market access negotiations] brings our brotherly country closer to WTO membership,” Pakistan’s permanent representative to the WTO Ali Sarfraz Hussain wrote on LinkedIn on 7 December.
Thailand’s WTO representative Pimchanok Pitfield also confirmed the signing of a protocol for Uzbekistan’s accession.
“We welcome Uzbekistan to the multilateral trading system soon and are certain that being a part of the WTO family will bring greater trade and investment to Uzbekistan. Bilaterally, it is a testament to our mutual commitment to strengthen the existing trade ties and also more „people to people“ activities in the future,” she said.
In recent months, Uzbekistan finalized negotiations with the Philippines, El Salvador, the US and China.
During the European Economic Days in Uzbekistan in early November, special representative to president of Uzbekistan for WTO Azizbek Urunov highlighted that the country still needed to finalize talks with Russia, the European Union, the UK, Switzerland and other nations.
In August, president Shavkat Mirziyoyev called WTO accession a “well-thought and far-sighted choice, as well as an integral part of reforms”. He acknowledged that while Uzbekistan’s “economy needed protection to some extent in the past”, continuing on that path would limit the country’s opportunities.
Deputy prime minister Jamshid Khodjaev stated in May that Uzbekistan aimed to join the WTO before the 14th Ministerial Conference, scheduled to take place in Cameroon in 2026.
