Afghan-Uzbek trade volume surges to nearly $2bn as ties deepen — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): The State-Owned Corporations Authority says trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan reached nearly $2 billion over the past year, describing bilateral relations between Kabul and Tashkent as progressing positively. In a post on X, the authority said its director Mawlavi Ahmad Jan Bilal and National Development Corporation (NDC) Chief Executive Abdul Rahman Attash met with Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjayev in Kabul. Bilal said relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan were developing well, with bilateral trade reaching nearly $2 billion in the past year. He thanked Uzbekistan for supporting the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) position at international forums and called for greater facilitation of business and tourist visas, increased exports of Afghan fresh fruit to Central Asia, faster implementation of the Afghan-Trans project, and enhanced cooperation in the textile sector. Bilal also highlighted Afghanistan’s efforts to combat narcotics and replace poppy cultivation with cotton production, describing Uzbekistan’s role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction as important and effective. Meanwhile, Khodjayev said a high-level Uzbek delegation had visited Kabul to further strengthen bilateral relations. He said Uzbekistan had issued 5,000 visas to Afghan citizens this year and efforts were underway to further simplify the visa process. Khodjayev added that the feasibility study for the Afghan-Trans project had been completed and that a technical team would remain in Kabul to coordinate the export…