On July 21 this year, a joint meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for working with WTO and the Negotiating Group on accession of the Republic of Uzbekistan to the World Trade Organization was held via videoconference. The meeting was chaired by the Chairman of the Commission, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan S. Umurzakov.
At the meeting, the course of preparations for bilateral negotiations with the WTO member countries was considered.
According to experts, for the first time in the history of the Organization, the WTO member countries during the first meeting of the Working Group since the resumption of the negotiation process after a 15-year pause, decided to go straight to the stage of forming a Factual Summary, which is the basis of the Report of the Working Group on Uzbekistan’s accession to the Organization.
At the meeting, information was heard on preparation for bilateral negotiations with the WTO member countries on access to the market for goods and services.
Heads of relevant ministries and agencies were instructed to organize high-quality and comprehensive preparation for negotiations, meaning the timely formation of strategic documents, involvement of competent employees and specialists and collection of necessary information to answer the questions of the WTO member countries. The Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan will coordinate and regularly monitor the preparation process.
Following the meeting, an action plan was approved for the transition to the next stage of negotiations on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO, specific plans were outlined and primary tasks in this process were identified.