On December 11, 2017, senior officials of the governments of the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan met to discuss expanding fair trade, international best practices, and intellectual property rights during the council meeting of the U.S. – Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).
Among the topics discussed were utilizing the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences for Central Asian exports, following the World Trade Order agreements as a framework for best practices, and strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights. Additionally, the Afghanistan delegation, who were participating as observers, proposed to become a full member.
The next meeting will occur in the United States at a date to be determined.
The joint statement can be found here:
