1. Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN Office in Geneva Paik Ji-ah (former President of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security /former Deputy Foreign Minister for Planning and Coordination) was elected to chair the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s Working Party on the Accession of Uzbekistan. She began serving as chair of the Working Party on July 26, 2018.

o Permanent Representative Paik was elected as chair of the WTO Working Party on the Accession of Uzbekistan by consensus among the WTO member states at its General Council meeting on July 26, 2018.

o With Permanent Representative Paik’s election as chair of the Working Party, the ROK has been chairing it since 2013. Former Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva Choi Seok-young served as chair of the Working Party from January 2013 to April 2018.

2. The chair of the Working Party oversees and coordinates bilateral and multilateral negotiations between countries seeking to join the WTO (22 countries, including Uzbekistan, as of July 2018) and the WTO member states, receiving support from the WTO Secretariat. The chair also provides policy advice regarding accession to the WTO to the governments of countries seeking to join the WTO.

3. Since applying for WTO membership in December 1994, Uzbekistan has made and revised domestic trade laws in accordance with the WTO’s regulations, and has held bilateral negotiations with the WTO members on the opening of its markets for goods and services.

o No tangible progress has been made in negotiations on Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO since 2005. However, as the government of Uzbekistan expressed its intention to resume the negotiations to the WTO Secretariat early this year, they are expected to be facilitated again.

4. The ROK Ambassador’s chairmanship of the Working Group is expected to help the international community highly appreciate the ROK government’s efforts to develop the multilateral trading system, and to contribute to promoting closer cooperative relations between the ROK and Uzbekistan.

* unofficial translation