At the November 26 session of the Legislative Chamber, the State Budget Bill for 2024 was in principle adopted in the first reading. Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov delivered a speech at the meeting, in which he also touched upon the importance of membership in the World Trade Organization.

“The World Trade Organization is, in general, a fair trade system. There is inequality between WTO members and non-members. For example, if we trade with a developed country, they always have the right to demand from us favorable conditions for themselves. I am not referring to preferences here. 

Meanwhile, there are some WTO member countries - [I am not going to mention which ones] - that have imposed import duties on Uzbekistan that they have not imposed on any other country. We can only see this in bilateral negotiations, saying, “Oh, this is wrong, that’s unacceptable.” They can either do it or not. But if we were also a member of the WTO, this would not allow them to take measures aimed at restricting our exports. 

To put it bluntly, joining the WTO gives Uzbekistan the right to trade on fair and equal parity terms with other, primarily developed and rapidly developing countries, he noted. 

Now, someone may lose, someone may be different, but in my opinion, the WTO is a fair trade regime. Therefore, every business or enterprise in Uzbekistan should learn to do business in these conditions of open competition, in fair conditions,” said Kuchkarov. 

The government of Uzbekistan has announced its goal of joining the World Trade Organization by 2026. 

“Our economy needed some sort of protection before. How ever in the long run, our opportunities will be limited,” President Shavkat Mirziyoyev explained this goal.