TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 29. Uzbekistan and India have signed a protocol concluding bilateral market access negotiations, marking another step forward in Uzbekistan’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), Azizbek Urunov, Representative of the President of Uzbekistan on the WTO and Chief Negotiator wrote on his social media account, Trend reports.
''Finally, today, we signed the Protocol on completion of market access negotiations with India that were agreed in 2024,'' he said in a post.
According to Urunov, the sides reached substantive agreements on market access issues in 2024, but additional work was needed to complete technical verification procedures and finalize the text of the protocol.
“India demonstrated a highly constructive approach to the core issues of market access,” Urunov said, thanking New Delhi for its continued support of Uzbekistan’s WTO accession efforts.
He also acknowledged the role of Uzbekistan’s Ambassador to India Sardor Rustambaev and India’s Ambassador to Uzbekistan Smita Pant in advancing the negotiations.
Urunov stated that Uzbekistan will immediately submit the signed protocol to the WTO Secretariat for consolidation into the country’s overall accession package.
Uzbekistan had initially aimed to finalize its WTO accession process before the organization’s 14th Ministerial Conference in March 2026, but the process remains ongoing. Urunov previously said some WTO member states had been slow to review required documents, creating delays in the negotiations.
The Central Asian country is now seeking to complete its accession and secure full WTO membership by the end of 2026.
