Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan is planning to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 4-5 years, uzbek media reported citing Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov addressing the Uzbek-German business forum in Tashkent.
“The changes taking place in the country allow us to say that in 4-5 years we will complete all the necessary procedures to join the WTO. Experience of our German partners is of great interest to us. Every week we have consultations with foreign experts who assist us in making that happen,” Ikramov said.
The intention of Uzbekistan to join the WTO was welcomed by Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Rothschild GmbH, member of the Presidium of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations Klaus Mangold.
“Uzbekistan has shown its desire to join the WTO. This is a very important message for German companies, because Uzbekistan is going to integrate itself into the global network of international trade. I think that now we will have to reconsider a strategy for Central Asia. We were previously being more concentrated on Kazakhstan and that was correct for the time. But now Germany has to take appropriate steps, considering the great developments in Uzbekistan,” Mangold said.
Uzbekistan applied for membership in the WTO in 1994. To date, three meetings of the Working Group, consisting of the members of the organization, were held with the last of them being in 2005. The process of Uzbekistan's accession has been passive since then, as the authorities of the country did not interact with WTO members.
During the official visit to South Korea last year, Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced resumption of work on Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO. South Korea is expected to assist Uzbekistan in this regard.
Uzbekistan and Korea also adopted the road map, according to which the Korean side should assist Uzbekistan by assessing the consequences of joining the organization and examining national legislation in accordance with the WTO requirements.
The EU delegation in Uzbekistan earlier stated that it was ready to assist the republic in joining the WTO. The WTO currently has 164 member states. Uzbekistan participates in the organization as an observer state.
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