Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom have officially concluded bilateral negotiations on Uzbekistan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). This was announced by Uzbekistan’s chief negotiator, Azizbek Urunov, in a post on his LinkedIn page.

“At the end of last month, we were in London to conduct bilateral talks with the British side. I am now pleased to announce their completion,” said Azizbek Urunov. According to him, after returning to Tashkent, the Uzbek delegation completed all necessary internal procedures, and the signing of the corresponding Protocol is scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the 10th Working Group meeting in Geneva on 12 June 2025.

The United Kingdom became the 24th country with which Uzbekistan has completed bilateral market access negotiations. This significant milestone was also reported in a briefing to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in early May.

“Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to the British side for their comprehensive support of our accession, as well as to the Uzbek negotiating team for their tireless work,” Urunov emphasized.

He noted that negotiations with several other WTO member countries still remain to be conducted in order to finalize the entire process of bilateral agreements. Nevertheless, the agreement reached with the United Kingdom is considered a substantial step forward in Uzbekistan’s overall accession process to the international trade system.

Accession to the WTO is one of the key directions of Uzbekistan’s foreign economic policy and aims to integrate the country into global trade, improve the investment climate, and expand access for domestic goods to international markets.