Uzbekistan expects to complete WTO accession negotiations in 2026 and become a member in 2027

Timeline: 2026 for negotiations, 2027 for membership

Uzbekistan intends to fully complete negotiations on joining the World Trade Organization in 2026 and become a member in 2027. This was announced on November 3 at a press conference in Tashkent by Sung-Yo Choi, chair of the working group on the country's WTO accession, Daryo reports. According to her, this year the working group held two meetings, answered more than 400 questions from WTO member states, and submitted over 30 documents.

What has been done and what remains

The work is proceeding in two directions. The first is bilateral negotiations on market access for goods and services: Uzbekistan has already reached more than 30 agreements, and this part is expected to be completed soon. The second is bringing legislation and foreign trade procedures into line with WTO requirements; a significant portion of this technical work is reflected in the initial draft report of the working group. Sung-Yo Choi emphasized that member states support Uzbekistan's accession, but that

Reforms on the path to membership

Iskandarbek Genjaev, an official at the Presidential Administration, listed the measures already taken: the list of goods whose export required special permission has been abolished — replaced by an open procedure for paying export duties. The exclusive rights of large state-owned enterprises have been abolished: the private sector is now allowed to engage in wholesale and retail trade of electricity and gas, as well as the export and import of secondary and non-ferrous metals. According to him, thanks to these reforms the country has reached the final stage of accession, and multilateral negotiations are currently discussing the commitments proposed for Uzbekistan to adopt — the position is being formed with national interests in mind.

Shifting timelines: from the 2026 promise to 2027

Notably, the official horizon for accession has shifted. In October 2025, Saida Mirziyoyeva, head of the Presidential Administration, said that only the consent of three countries remained for membership and stated that Uzbekistan would become a WTO member in 2026. The presidential decree, which Daryo writes about, provided for moving to the official formalization of accession in December 2026, with legislative adaptation to be completed within a year. Now, according to the head of the working group, the plan is to complete negotiations in 2026 and obtain membership in 2027. The process itself has been ongoing since 1994 — 32 years — and was suspended several times: meetings with international experts ceased by mid-2005 and resumed only in July 2020; since 2023 the work has intensified under the president's special oversight. The WTO currently has 166 members, accounting for 97% of world trade.