The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in New York Monday, the presidential press service said.
The parties discussed Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO and expressed satisfaction with the progress of talks with the WTO member countries.
Uzbekistan is working to harmonize its national legislation with WTO norms and rules, including technical regulations and food safety.
In an interview with the Uzbekistan 24 television channel, the WTO Director-General praised the progress achieved.
"Significant progress has already been achieved, which is noticeably reflected in the economy. While the global economy is growing at an average of 3%, Uzbekistan's economy is growing at 6%, which is twice as much. This is a very positive result," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted.
According to her, the accession process is nearing completion:
"A working group meeting will take place in November. We hope that all processes will be fully completed by March, and we will be able to celebrate Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO. We are working towards this goal with great determination."
She also thanked the president for his support for the negotiation process: "The team is working very effeciently. All bilateral negotiations have now been completed."
"Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO is driven by the president's strong political commitment to market reforms. Thank you, Mr. President. We have made great progress—let's continue to work diligently together to achieve results for Uzbekistan!" she wrote in X.
In mid-September, Uzbekistan signed market access protocols with Argentina, Australia, and Honduras as part of its accession to the World Trade Organization. "We only have three countries left to fully complete bilateral negotiations," stated Azizbek Urunov, the president's representative to the WTO (chief negotiator for the WTO accession). Urunov did not elaborate on the countries in question, but they are expected to include Russia, with which "unresolved issues" regarding the WTO were discussed in March of this year, as well as the European Union.
