The Republic of Uzbekistan: Market Access 2025-26

This Report titled, “The Republic of Uzbekistan: Market Access 2025-26” forms part of the Pakistan Business Council’s Market Access series. These studies highlight trade and investment opportunities for Pakistani exporters in non-traditional markets.

Background to the Study

Uzbekistan’s ongoing economic liberalization has repositioned the country as one of Central Asia’s most dynamic emerging markets. Reforms cover customs administration, tariff modernization, industrial policy, and regional connectivity. In the 2017-2024 period, Uzbekistan’s foreign trade volume has greatly expanded. The figure below shows Uzbekistan’s trade performance between 2017 – 2024.

This report provides a product and policy-level assessment of Pakistan’s market access prospects in Uzbekistan. It analyses logistics constraints, regulatory asymmetries, the trade potential and sectoral competitiveness for Pakistani exports to Uzbekistan

Reporting Differentials in Trade Data Between Pakistan and Uzbekistan

A major impediment to assessing Pakistan’s trade potential with Uzbekistan is the persistent data discrepancy between Pakistan’s recorded exports to Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan’s reported imports from Pakistan. This discrepancy is shown in the figure below. This report lists a number of potential reasons behind this reporting differential, including a combination of transit-country recording (particularly via Afghanistan), under-declaration, routing through third-country trade hubs, and classification differences. This discrepancy complicates accurate estimation of bilateral trade potential which in turn conceals the actual scale of Pakistan’s commercial footprint in Uzbekistan.

Pakistan’s Export Potential to Uzbekistan

Despite the above-mentioned impediment, the analysis of Pakistan’s export composition shows a set of goods with stable market presence. The top exports are dominated by agricultural commodities, light manufactures, pharmaceuticals, and select textile products. However, the existing export basket is narrow and does not fully cater to Uzbekistan’s current industrial modernization trajectory, particularly in food processing, pharmaceuticals, industrial chemicals, electrical equipment, building materials, and value-added textiles.

To assess commercially viable expansion pathways, the report applies an HS-06 level intensive-margin model to identify Pakistan’s highest-potential underpenetrated product lines. The table below lists top 10 products where Pakistan can achieve scale rapidly due to competitive pricing and comparative advantage.

Table: Pakistan’s Top 10 Products with the Highest Export Potential at HS-06 Level at Intensive Margin in the Uzbek Market in 2024

Product Code	Product Label	Pakistan’s Exports to Uzbekistan	Pakistan’s Exports to the World	Uzbekistan’s Imports from the World	Indicative Trade Potential – 2024
		(USD Million)	(USD Million)	(USD Million)	(USD Million)
300490	Medicaments consisting of mixed or unmixed products for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, …	18.29	202.84	1,833.08	184.55
070190	Fresh or chilled potatoes (excl. seed)	0.00	138.26	110.03	110.02
080529	Fresh or dried wilkings and similar citrus hybrids	0.04	62.65	–	62.61
170490	Sugar confectionery not containing cocoa, incl. white chocolate (excl. chewing gum)	0.03	59.90	83.00	59.86
121300	Cereal straw and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped, ground, pressed or in the form …	0.78	53.11	–	52.33
300439	Medicaments containing hormones or steroids used as hormones but not antibiotics, put up in …	8.06	147.73	57.05	48.99
761290	Casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers, incl. rigid tubular containers, of aluminium, …	5.87	51.88	69.95	46.01
151620	Vegetable fats and oils and their fractions, partly or wholly hydrogenated, inter-esterified, …	0.02	27.96	78.86	27.94
190531	Sweet biscuits	0.26	41.30	78.86	27.11
300420	Medicaments containing antibiotics, put up in measured doses “incl. those for transdermal administration” …	0.39	22.72	78.86	22.33
Source: ITC

The report also identifies a low to medium-term opportunity set in four high-value clusters based on sectoral complementarities between the two countries. The clusters are illustrated in the figure below:

Impediments to Pakistan’s Market Access to Uzbekistan

Beyond product-level trade potential, the report outlines major impediments to Pakistan’s market expansion in Uzbekistan, including:

• Sanitary, phytosanitary, and technical conformity requirements that raise compliance costs
• Bilateral logistics inefficiencies, including transit bottlenecks and multimodal coordination gaps
• Lack of formal banking channels
• Fragmented private-sector information flows; and
• The absence of structured B2B and G2G mechanisms to institutionalize commercial engagement.

The analysis concludes that the Pakistan-Uzbekistan bilateral trade relationship remains significantly below potential, largely due to logistical and procedural frictions rather than demand-side limitations. In order to address these barriers, there needs to be synchronization between private-sector players and relevant ministries on both sides, as well as government backed targeted support for businesses entering the Central Asian markets.

Findings and Conclusion

The findings presented in the report call attention to the fact that Pakistan can substantially expand its exports to Uzbekistan by improving transit efficiencies through regional corridors and utilising the complementarities outlined in the report.

This report serves as a detailed guide for exporters and policymakers seeking to engage with Uzbekistan’s evolving market. It consolidates the empirical evidence and regulatory insights necessary to formulate targeted export strategies for short-term and beyond.

 

The PBC is a private sector not-for-profit advocacy platform set-up in 2005 by 14 (now 100+) of Pakistan’s largest businesses. PBC’s research-based advocacy supports measures which improve Pakistani industry’s regional and global competitiveness. More information about the PBC, its members, objectives and activities can be found on its website: www.pbc.org.pk

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