Gov’t worries that WTO membership will “hurt” the auto industry

On December 1, a roundtable discussion on “Problems and opportunities facing the private sector in Uzbekistan’s membership in the World Trade Organization” was held at the Hilton hotel in Tashkent with the participation of the business community.

Badriddin Obidov, Deputy Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade, speaking at the meeting, said that WTO membership can have a negative impact on a number of economic sectors.

“On the other hand, there are opportunities to mitigate such risks through rigorous negotiations and research into the implications of mergers for individual sectors. With the understanding of the above, leading international and national experts are involved and a number of scientific-research works are being carried out to evaluate and minimize the negative consequences of Uzbekistan’s WTO membership,” Obidov said in a press release. 

It is known that studies aimed at assessing the consequences of WTO membership for textile, electrical engineering, automobile industry, metallurgy, chemistry and other sectors are being conducted.

Kun.uz asked Alijon Aliyev, the chief specialist of the ministry, to tell about this in detail. He said that the ministry will use the results of the research to formulate positions and obligations in negotiations with member states of the organization.

“In cooperation with international experts, together with the UN Development Program, we are carrying out scientific and research work on studying the consequences of joining the WTO on a number of sectors of our economy. In fact, we are conducting scientific research on the consequences of accession to the WTO on industries such as textiles, electrical engineering, chemistry and automotive industry, and we will use the results to formulate positions and obligations during negotiations with WTO member states. Using these scientific studies, we will take measures to mitigate the negative consequences,” he said.

The automotive market in Uzbekistan is a state monopoly, and consumers suffer from this monopoly. Aliyev answered Kun.uz question as to whether the path taken by the authorities in the field of automobile industry in the process of entering the WTO will not frustrate the hopes of the Uzbeks regarding the formation of competition in the field after joining the WTO.

“This process is carried out through negotiations. Our negotiations are not over yet. We are currently conducting the 4th round of negotiations with the member states. I cannot give specific information on these directions now. After the negotiations are over, we can say something”. 

The chief expert of the ministry emphasized that the countries feel the advantage of WTO membership, and it would be wrong to dwell on the negative aspects of it, adding that the government does not forget its positions.