Uzbekistan's accession to WTO would be generally positive - CEIR
The Center for Economic Research and Reform of Uzbekistan (CERR) has conducted a preliminary assessment of the impact of the country`s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and concluded that the impact on exports would, in general, be positive.
The Center for Economic Research and Reform of Uzbekistan (CERR) has conducted a preliminary assessment of the impact of the country`s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and concluded that the impact on exports would, in general, be positive.
"Against Uzbekistan, the WTO member states will apply the rates of import duties agreed within the organization, and they may be lower than those that are currently applied," the CERR said in a statement.
If the accession is successful, and import customs duties are reduced by 50%, according to preliminary calculations, the volume of imports could grow by an average of 5%, and for certain industries from 2% to 13%.
Uzbekistan has a significant untapped export potential for certain types of products, the analysis shows. Including:
- fruit and vegetable products for $986.7mn;
- textile products for $686.6mn;
- electrical products for $56.6mn.
“The petrochemical, metallurgical, machine-building, electrical, pharmaceutical, construction, textile, leather and footwear and food industries can become drivers of the national economy”, the CERR noted.
“Thus, the further integration of Uzbekistan into the world economy will contribute to the entry of domestic products into new export markets”, it added.
Uzbekistan`s exports during 2016-2019 soared by 42%, from $12.6bn to $17.9bn. In 2020, amid the pandemic, it plummeted by 15%.
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