Uzbekistan - South Korea: on the way to free trade

    Business 16 November 2022 1330

    The Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade hosted a regular meeting of negotiating groups on the Agreement on Free Trade between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Korea, headed by Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Badriddin Abidov and Director General for Free Trade Agreements of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea Yang Gi Uk.

    The efforts made by both sides in the process of agreeing on the draft Agreement following the results of two rounds of negotiations of the chief negotiators and four meetings of expert groups held in 2021-2022 were emphasized.

    During the negotiations, the parties discussed further steps to conclude a Free Trade Agreement, in particular, the issue of revising the level of market liberalization and the format of the agreement was separately considered.

    In addition, the Korean side, welcoming Uzbekistan's active efforts and significant progress in the WTO accession process, noted that it was ready to assist in holding the 6th meeting of the Working Group on the republic's accession to this Organization.

    Following the meeting, an agreement was reached to intensify the work of expert groups to address issues related to determining the level of market liberalization and the format of concluding a Free Trade Agreement.