Jakhongir Artykhojaev commented on Uzbekistan's intention to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He shared this on November 29 during an open meeting with young entrepreneurs, organized as part of the "Tashkent Loves Youth" month.
In response to concerns about whether joining the WTO would lead to an influx of high-quality and cheap foreign goods that could "overwhelm" local businesses, Artykhojaev stated that this is an "unwarranted fear."
“For instance, in a WTO member state like the USA, a new leader, Donald Trump, comes to power. He intends to raise tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada by 25%, and on Chinese products by 10% (Trump wrote about this on November 26 - note by Spot). This contradicts WTO rules. But why is he doing this? To protect the American market from certain goods,” he declared.
He added that "there's nothing to fear." Artykhojaev emphasized that many enterprises in Uzbekistan have the capability to produce goods that meet any WTO requirements. “I don’t believe there will be any serious damage or anything alarming,” he said.
The entrepreneur also highlighted that joining the WTO would facilitate the export of Uzbek products to foreign markets.
“We should be happy not about the imports coming to us, but about the fact that other markets are opening up for us. This means we get more opportunities to sell our goods in other countries. A coin has two sides. Many believe we will only lose, but in reality, we have many advantages. <...> The quality of goods will only improve, which will benefit both the people and the state,” he concluded.
Uzbekistan's Accession to the WTO
In April 2023, Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed the government to expedite the process for Uzbekistan to gain WTO membership. The head of state emphasized the importance of this step for significantly increasing exports, particularly of finished products.
In the summer of the same year, the position of special representative of the president for WTO issues was established, and it was mandated to create units for interaction with the WTO across 20 agencies. The president also imposed a ban on the creation of regulations that do not comply with the organization's standards.
At the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the president identified the swift accession to the WTO as a priority task for Uzbekistan. The organization's Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala agreed to expedite the next meeting of the working group on this matter.
Uzbekistan aims to join the WTO before the 14th Ministerial Conference, which will take place in 2026 in Cameroon. During an open dialogue with businesses in August of this year, Mirziyoyev referred to joining the WTO as "an integral part of reforms."
The first deputy head of the Tax Committee, Mubin Mirzaev, reported that Uzbekistan will receive a transitional period of 2-3 years upon joining the WTO. Customs duties will be established based on agreements with other member countries of the organization.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Jamshid Kuchkarov, in his speech before the Oliy Majlis on November 27 regarding the cancellation of benefits for exporters, called the WTO "a generally fair trading system." He emphasized that local entrepreneurs must learn to operate under conditions of open competition.
Earlier, Spot reported that Uzbekistan had agreed on support for its WTO accession with the Philippines.