Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

New measures related to the Uzbekistan's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be approved in the coming days.

The experts prepared additional proposals related to the measures taken to resume Uzbekistan's participation in the WTO accession process, Uzbek Economy Minister Botir Khodjaev said, podrobno.uz reported.

“Just the other day they will be approved,” he said speaking at an international conference on May 28.

This year Uzbekistan plans to take a number of measures to assess the implications of WTO membership and prepare proposals for institutional reforms, as well as the creation of an interdepartmental commission that will deal with issues of joining the organization. A number of large countries-members of the organization have already expressed their support in this process.

Uzbekistan applied for membership in the World Trade Organization in 1994. To date, there have been three meetings of a working group consisting of members of the organization. The latest one was held in 2005. Since then, the process of Uzbekistan's accession has been passive and official authorities have not interacted with WTO members.

During the trip to South Korea last year, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced the resumption of work on Uzbekistan's accession to the organization. In this process, the United States and South Korea should help the republic.

Thus, Uzbekistan and Korea have already signed a special “road map” on this issue. The Korean side will help Uzbekistan by assessing the consequences of joining the organization, examining the national legislation in accordance with the requirements of the WTO agreements. The United States will also provide the necessary technical assistance in this process, including preparing the necessary documents for submission to the WTO, holding seminars and conferences.

To date, Uzbekistan participates in the work of the organization as an observer state. In mid-May, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, Adham Ikramov, noted that Uzbekistan intends to join the WTO in 4-5 years.

There are 164 members of the World Trade Organization. That's 84 percent of the 196 countries in the world.

They enjoy the privileges that other member-countries give to them and the security that the trading rules provide. In return, they had to make commitments to open their markets and to abide by the rules — those commitments were the result of the membership (or “accession”) negotiations.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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