On September 30 this year, there was a special session of the Geneva Trade Week on accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the WTO Secretariat in order to discuss possible use of international trade to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the countries' accession to the WTO, via video-conferencing,

The Executive Secretary of the UNECE O. Algayerova, Director of the WTO Accession Department M. Oshikawa, Chief Negotiator for Bosnia and Herzegovina's accession to the WTO H. Tinyak, Deputy Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan B. Abidov, heads of diplomatic missions of Belarus and Kazakhstan in Geneva, as well as scientists, experts, representatives of the private sector attended the session.

Having addressed with a welcoming speech, O. Algayerova noted the importance of trade and regional cooperation for the SDGs, and emphasized the benefits of accession to the WTO, which, in her opinion, is aimed primarily at creation of sustainable value chains and commercial transparency.

Director of the WTO Accession Department, Maika Oshikawa, said that the WTO plays an essential role in achieving the SDGs being an effective tool to promote commercial reforms focused on economic growth and well-being of the population of the participating countries, as well as on issues of WTO accession covering 13 of the 17 SDG goals to be sold to give an additional impetus to the efforts of states to reform their national economies.

The Uzbek side informed on the process of the Republic's accession to the WTO. In particular, it emphasized the targeted measures taken under the Strategy of Actions in Five Priority Areas for the Republic Development in 2017-2021 to liberalize the foreign trade regime, currency regulation, customs, and tax legislation focused on the most favorable conditions for Uzbekistan's accession to the WTO. Here, the process is an integral part of ongoing reforms aimed at the further integration of Uzbekistan into the world economic community and the multilateral trading system.

The session included the addresses of a representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a review on the progress in accession to the WTO, as well as a representative of Kazakhstan, who presented detailed information on the Kazakh experience in accession to the WTO.

After the session, the attendants noted the importance of close cooperation on the implementation of the ECE initiatives focused on assistance to countries in accession to the WTO, including on trade facilitation, bringing of technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary standards in line with international standards.