The Kyrgyz Republic is not a party to the World Trade organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, it has observer status since October 1999.

The Regulation on Licensing of Activities in the Field of Electric and Postal Communications governs the procedure for issuance, reissuance, suspension, renewal and cancellation of licenses for activities in the field of electronic communications. The regime is generally non-discriminatory although the licensing regime for Kyrgyztelecom Open Joint Stock Company (Kyrgyz Telecom OJSC) has some potentially restrictive obligations contained in Law No. 31 on Electric Communication. Art. 13 of this law designates Kyrgyz Telecom OJSC as a national telecommunications operator and provider of public telecommunications services and defines obligations and rights that Kyrgyz Telecom's licence must contain. Among these are the obligation to: (i) provide public telecommunications services to any person in any part of the Kyrgyz Republic where it is technically or economically possible and to justify the refusal or inability to provide services; (ii) develop a public telecommunications network; and (iii) manage national long-distance and international telecommunications services. The licence must also establish a procedure for regulating prices for the use of networks and services provided by Kyrgyz Telecom on an exclusive basis. While Kyrgyz Telecom is currently a state-owned enterprise, Art. 16 extends these obligations also to private entities that would participate in the privatisation of Kyrgyz Telecom or other public telecommunications network operator or public telecommunications service provider owned or controlled by the state.

There are no foreign ownership limitations in sectors relevant for digital trade.

The Kyrgyz Republic has appended the World Trade organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the government may impose investment-specific requirements including a minimum number of local seats on a board of directors, particularly for large investors. This is despite Art. 4 of Law No. 66 establishes that the Kyrgyz Republic shall not permit discrimination in respect of investors on the basis of their citizenship, nationality, language, sex, race, religion, place of their economic activity and country of origin of investors or investments.

The Ministry of Digital Development's Service for the Regulation and Supervision of the Communications Sector is the telecommunications authority of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is reported that its decision-making process is not independent of the government.

It is reported that the government may impose certain requirements to investment such as a high percentage of local workforce employment.

According to Art. 25 of Law No. 69, patent applications must be submitted in the state or official language, which can be either Kyrgyz or Russian. Foreign applicants are permitted to file their applications in another language, provided they include a translation into one of the two official languages.

According to Art. 7 of Law No. 69, applicants who are not residents of Kyrgyzstan must be represented by a local attorney for issues related to the registration and enforcement of patents.

The Kyrgyz Republic is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). However, the country does not consider itself bound by Art. 59 related to disputes. It should be noted that this treaty was signed in 1970, at a time when the Kyrgyz Republic was part of the Soviet Union. In 1994, the Kyrgyz Republic issued a declaration of continued application and the date of entry into force assigned was the date of independence, which is December 1991.

The Kyrgyz Republic has a copyright regime under the Law No. 6. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Arts. 18-25 list the exceptions, which include use of a work for educational purposes and by persons with print disabilities, use by libraries, archives and educational establishments, limitations and exceptions regarding accessible format copies, among others.

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in the Kyrgyz Republic. It is reported that IPR enforcement is lax and there have been no successful prosecution for IPR violations in the history of the Kyrgyz Republic. It is also reported that the judicial system remains underdeveloped and lacks independence and the appeals process can be lengthy.

Kyrgyz Republic has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

Kyrgyz Republic has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.

Art. 11.2 of the Law No. 27 of the Kyrgyz Republic states that State control and law enforcement bodies have the right to familiarise themselves with the information considered to be commercial secrets within the limits of their competence in accordance with the powers of control and supervision granted to them by law. Access to commercial secrets is provided to the financial intelligence agency in accordance with the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of combating the financing of terrorist activity and the legalisation (laundering) of criminal proceeds.
Nevertheless, Art. 11.3 and 11.4 establish that obtaining documents containing information considered to be commercial secrets shall be carried out only with the sanction of the prosecutor or his/her deputy and in accordance with the procedure agreed with the head of the relevant institution. Obtaining documents is carried out according to the investigator's decision. Officials of these bodies shall be held liable as provided by law for disclosing information constituting a commercial secret of an economic entity.