BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 22
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Active involvement of Uzbekistan in world trade will have a positive impact on the development of transport and logistics infrastructure and help Uzbekistan enter new markets, Trend reports referring to the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan.
An Uzbek-Korean webinar was held on the topic "Impact of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO (World Trade Organization) on agriculture, the financial sector and the automotive industry.
The head of the research project Seo Jin Kyo presented a final report on the implications of Uzbekistan's entry into the WTO for agriculture. He proposed to protect the positions of this industry as much as possible, taking into account the high employment of the population in agriculture.
According to Seo Jin Kyo, the creation of a favorable agribusiness climate and value chains, a decrease in the role of the state in regulation and measures to increase the investment attractiveness of agriculture will turn the industry into a driver of development.
“In the process of joining the WTO, the main goals of the agriculture sector should be the issues of ensuring food security and access of the population to quality food,” he said.
In turn, a researcher at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy Su-Dong Kim noted that the likelihood of success from accession to the WTO will be high if the country expands its exports of food or raw agricultural products both to the CIS countries and to Europe and Asia.
“For this, Uzbekistan needs to improve not only price competitiveness, but also the quality of products,” Su-Dong Kim said.
Also, an expert from the Korean Institute of International Economic Policy Minsu Khan, focused on the positive factors associated with the opening of the financial market of Uzbekistan after joining the WTO.
He said that this process assumes an increase in total capital by 55.3 percent and the number of jobs - by 1.7 percent, which is associated with the expectation of an increase in the inflow of foreign capital.
“This will have a positive effect on the competitiveness of banking structures, since only profitable companies with efficient management will survive in the new conditions,” Khan noted.
Furthermore, a specialist at the Lee & Ko law firm Nani Ho stressed that the active involvement of Uzbekistan in world trade will positively affect the development of transport and logistics infrastructure and help Uzbekistan enter new markets.
Touching upon the topic of Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO and interaction with the EAEU, she expressed an opinion on the advisability of expanding the general foreign trade regime to further focus on regional integration processes.
“Given the need to harmonize negotiations with partners on tariff policy, obtaining observer status with the EAEU is the best step,” she said.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @romakayeva