The European Union expects Uzbekistan to join the WTO as soon as possible and intends to allocate €5 million for these purposes, Sputnik Uzbekistan reports.

This was stated by the head of the EU delegation’s cooperation department in Uzbekistan Francois Bejo on July 16, in Tashkent during the second meeting of the Dialogue between state and private structures of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

“We hope that Uzbekistan in a few months will become a full-fledged partner of the EU in the international trade arena. The economic development of this region is very important,” Bejo said. He also added that the relations between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan make a great contribution to improving the situation in the region.

He expects that all trade barriers will be removed soon.

“Next month, a new project,  worth €5 million, will be launched. It will facilitate negotiations on WTO accession and will also help the private sector understand the conditions and provisions of the WTO,” Bejo stressed.

According to the EU representative, the role of Uzbekistan in this matter is very important, since, having become a member of the WTO, Tashkent will be able to cooperate with the European Union and provide even greater support to Afghanistan.