Image Credits - daryo.uz
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are working to boost bilateral ties between the nations. The Deputy PM of Uzbekistan, Jamshid Khodjayev held a meeting with the Deputy PM of Afghanistan, Abdul Ghani Mullah Barodar in Kabul. The discussion was focused on diverse matters aimed at fostering cooperation and bilateral relations between the two nations.
Furthermore, an extensive gathering took place in Kabul, bringing together delegates from various Uzbekistani and Afghan ministries and agencies. The primary objective of this meeting was to investigate potential collaborations across a wide range of fields, including trade and economics.
The Uzbekistan contingent comprised top officials from numerous ministries, including those responsible for energy, mining and geology, agriculture, investment, industry and trade, transportation, and foreign affairs.
The meetings delved into a discussion about the implementation of the Sukhan-Puli-Khumri power transmission network construction project. The construction of this project will be of a 200 km long transmission line that aims to increase electricity imports into Afghanistan by 70% to 6 billion kilowatt-hours annually.
Further discussions included talks of restoring Uzbekistan’s trading houses in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan which is aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment between the two countries with imports and exports of various goods such as textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, and electrical products.
Thirdly, they discussed the establishment of a Uzbekistan Railways representative office in Afghanistan, along with various facets of international cargo transportation, customs control, mineral deposit exploration, and development. These initiatives aim to facilitate the movement of people and goods while strengthening regional integration.
Following this, an exhibition featuring Uzbekistani national products was arranged, and meetings were held in both B2B (Business to Business) and G2B (Government to Business) formats. The discussions were proved to be bilaterally beneficial with the signing of export-import contracts and transactions. These agreements spanned across a range of sectors, including agriculture, textiles, industry, transportation, logistics, chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, leather, footwear, and the electrical engineering sector.