Led by Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev, the high-level Uzbek delegation in Geneva included the Special Representative of the President on WTO issues and Chief Negotiator for WTO Accession, Azizbek Urunov, and other senior government officials. These included Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Akhadbek Khaydarov, Deputy Minister of Justice, Alisher Karimov, and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Akmaljon Kasimov. High-level officials from a wide range of ministries and agencies joined virtually from Tashkent.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev noted that Uzbekistan “has taken tangible steps to advance accession” and undertaken key domestic market reforms. Such reforms have included the elimination of export-contingent subsidies and exclusive rights for state-owned enterprises in sectors such as gas, electricity and metals. Other reforms include the liberalization of price controls, acceleration of privatization and compliance with WTO intellectual property norms.

“We are all aware that the global trading environment is becoming increasingly fragmented,” he said. “In this context, Uzbekistan’s commitment to the WTO and to building a modern, market-oriented economy rooted in rules-based trade has never been stronger. We firmly believe the WTO remains the only credible framework to ensure a transparent, stable and inclusive global trading system.”

Recalling the ambitious target of concluding Uzbekistan’s WTO accession by MC14, Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev presented a roadmap entitled “Road to Yaoundé MC14”, which outlines all necessary steps to finalize the accession process with a clear timeline. His full statement is available here.

WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang congratulated Deputy Prime Minister Khodjaev, Chief Negotiator Urunov, and their interagency team for the hard work and determination in pushing the accession negotiations towards the finishing line. He also congratulated WTO members for their substantive engagement with Uzbekistan on both the bilateral and multilateral tracks. “It’s remarkable to see how the accession process has been transformed, has matured and is now advancing at a rapid pace,” DDG Zhang said.

WTO members updated the Working Party on progress in their bilateral market access negotiations with Uzbekistan. Several expressed support for Uzbekistan’s ambitious accession goals, commended recent progress in its negotiations and the reforms undertaken to date and said they looked forward to further progress on its accession efforts.

The Chairperson of the Working Party, Ambassador Yun Seong-deok of the Republic of Korea, also reported to members on three other events on 12 June 2025: an informal meeting on agricultural support, a seminar on Uzbekistan’s economic reforms to support accession organized by the government of Uzbekistan in collaboration with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and an information session on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures. Members expressed appreciation for the sessions which had provided very useful information, fostering transparency.

Next steps

In his concluding remarks, Ambassador Yun said Uzbekistan “continues to make steady progress in the negotiations towards its finalization goal, both under the bilateral and multilateral tracks.” He also noted that most remaining bilateral negotiations are at an advanced stage and looked forward to their conclusion before the summer break. On the multilateral front, Uzbekistan has taken “decisive steps” in achieving WTO conformity in several areas where members have repeatedly raised concerns, the Chair said.

Moving forward, members were requested to submit questions, comments and draft commitments by 11 July 2025. Uzbekistan was also asked to submit replies to members’ questions and a few updated supporting documents.

The Chair noted that members and Uzbekistan were facing “an extremely tight timeline” to complete all outstanding work if the aim was to finalize the accession talks by MC14. He noted that by the next meeting, it would be “critical that most, if not all, elements of this Draft Accession Package begin to emerge”. 

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala praised Uzbekistan for its recent economic reforms at a high-level meeting during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings held on 24 April.

Uzbekistan applied for WTO membership in 1994 and has actively been negotiating its membership terms since 2020.

More information about the WTO accession process is available here.

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