The European Union is expected to extend Uzbekistan's GSP+ beneficiary status

The European Union is expected to extend Uzbekistan's status as a beneficiary of the GSP+ system in the new period of 2024-2034. This issue was discussed at the meeting with the delegation of the European Parliament at the Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan. According to the ISSV press service, the EU delegation noted that Uzbekistan has ratified the necessary conventions and has all the grounds to extend the status of the beneficiary of this system. Recently, the ambassador of the EU to our country, Charlotte Adrian, announced that a 5 million euro project is being financed to help Uzbekistan become a member of the World Trade Organization. The commitment of the EU leadership to continue close cooperation, consulting and technical assistance in this process was also emphasized in the negotiations at the Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade. For information, the delegation led by Fulvio Martushello, the member of the European Parliament responsible for relations with the countries of Central Asia and Mongolia, met with representatives of the Oliy Majlis and the government in Tashkent during the visit on April 3-5. The European guests also visited the cities of Nukus and Moynaq in Karakalpakstan. As we previously reported, Uzbekistan has been a member of the GSP+ system of the EU since April 2021. In this way, Uzbekistan had the opportunity to export more than 6,200 items of goods to the European market duty-free. Due to the status of GSP+ beneficiary, the share of Uzbekistan's exports to Europe is increasing significantly. The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in his speech at the Central Asia-EU summit held in Astana in October 2022, noted that the export of high-value-added Uzbek products has almost doubled after our country joined the GSP+ system, the total figures noted that it does not correspond to the existing huge opportunities and suggested ways to increase it.