TASHKENT, April 14Uzbekistan must certainly join the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of a strategy to double the republic's exports, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Friday.
According to the presidential press service, on April 14, Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation on the progress and prospects of the WTO accession process.
«At the meeting, the head of state stressed that our country must by all means join the WTO, and noted the economic significance of this task,» the message says.
The head of state gave instructions to harmonize national legislation based on WTO agreements, bring procedures and standards in line with international requirements.
«In the next three years, we plan to double the export of finished products. The only way to achieve this is to become a member of the World Trade Organization. This will allow us to establish a fair trade system with 164 countries and find stable markets,» Mirziyoyev's press service quoted Mirziyoyev as saying.
The head of Uzbekistan pointed out the need to attract foreign consultants, form working groups, systemic interaction of all ministries and embassies in the process of joining the WTO, the press service added.
Uzbekistan received observer status in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in June 1994, in 1998 a working negotiating group was established to join the WTO. In July 2020, the Uzbek authorities, the WTO and representatives of a number of countries held the fourth meeting of this group online after an almost 15-year break. At the end of June last year, negotiations began between the Uzbek side and WTO member countries on the conditions for joining the organization.