19 Aug 2024 20:42

Uzbekistan, Afghanistan plan to increase trade to $3 bln

TASHKENT. Aug 19 (Interfax) - An Uzbek delegation led by Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov discussed ways to expand Uzbek-Afghan trade and economic relations and to raise bilateral trade to $3 billion in the near future with senior Afghan officials during a working visit to Kabul.

During the visit, Aripov met with acting Afghan Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi, Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs Abdul Kabir, and Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Uzbek government press service said.

"The parties emphasized that they had every opportunity to increase mutual trade to $1 billion this year and to $3 billion in the near future," the Uzbek government said in a statement on its website.

The delegations discussed prospects for cooperation in the energy sector and opportunities for pursuing joint projects to develop copper, iron, oil, and gas deposits in Afghanistan.

They also considered cooperation in the transport, logistics, agriculture, and water management sectors and discussed the establishment of interregional ties and strengthening contacts to promote sports and education, it said.

"A number of documents were signed based on the meetings' outcomes," it said.

The Uzbek delegation attended the opening ceremony of an Uzbek-Afghan business forum and the Made in Uzbekistan exhibition.

While meeting with businesspeople, Aripov pointed out that Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed an agreement on the mutual facilitation and protection of investment. In addition, an agreement on preferential trade between the two countries, which is to take effect on October 1, 2024, lifts import duties on 14 agreed-upon goods, which would provide additional advantages for exporters. To increase agricultural imports from Afghanistan, the countries agreed to simplify the issuing of phytosanitary permissions.

"The participants in the meeting, which was held in an open dialogue format, were provided with detailed information on these and other measures aimed at supporting activities of the two countries' business communities," it said.

According to the Uzbek statistics agency, trade between the two countries amounted to $866.9 million in 2023 and $461.4 million in January-June 2024.