Kazakhstan supported Uzbekistan's resumption of the WTO accession process

On 7 July 2020, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Ambassador Zhanar Aitzhanova delivered her statement at the 4th meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the World Trade Organization.

Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan Zh.Aitzhanova welcomed the high-level delegation of Uzbekistan headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Minister of  Investments and Foreign Trade S.Umurzakov.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov in his opening statement stressed that the present meeting of the Working Party marks for Uzbekistan a historic moment as the country has been revitalizing the negotiation process for the first time since 2005 after a 15 year break. He also noted that Strategy for Economic Development of Uzbekistan, approved by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan S.Mirziyoyev in 2017, launched a large-scale economic reforms, including liberalization of trade, customs, tax and currency policies of the country. The country's reform agenda will contribute to the accession of Uzbekistan to the WTO.

S.Umurzakov stressed that Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO is an utmost priority for the Government of Uzbekistan as a part of the country's aim to integrate into the global trading system.

Permanent Representative Aitzhanova in her statement highlighted strategic  political, trade and economic partnership between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and expressed Kazakhstan's full support for the resumption of negotiations on Uzbekistan accession to the WTO.

Zh.Aitzhanova emphasized that the accession process to the WTO will undoubtedly provide impetus to the comprehensive package of economic and trade policy reforms, that are being implemented in Uzbekistan under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan S.Mirziyoyev. Speedy accession of Uzbekistan to the WTO will demonstrate that the country belongs to the multilateral trading system and adheres to the WTO rules, as well as enhances the WTO’s credibility at this challenging time for the multilateralism.

Deputy Director-General of the WTO A.Wolff welcomed the strong dedication of the Government of Uzbekistan to achieve key milestones in the country's reform and in the accession negotiations process. A.Wolff expressed the Organization's readiness to provide necessary support to the accession process of Uzbekistan to the WTO.