KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Afghanistan and Uzbekistan private sector representatives signed 22 trade agreements worth more than $200 million, Taliban authorities announced, as the two sides seek to expand bilateral trade and investment.
The agreements were signed during an Afghan-Uzbek trade forum in Kabul in the presence of Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev and Taliban Minister for Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, according to a statement from the ministry.
Speaking at the forum, Azizi said economic relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan had reached their highest level and expressed hope that annual trade volume could climb to $5 billion.
He also said Afghanistan had exported 10,000 tonnes of cotton to Uzbekistan on a trial basis and that Uzbekistan had committed to purchasing up to 100,000 additional tonnes of Afghan cotton.
Khodjaev described Afghanistan as a country with significant economic potential and said Uzbekistan is working to facilitate trade and investment. He stressed the importance of expanding economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries, according to the Taliban statement.
An Uzbek delegation of government officials, business leaders, and investors, headed by Khodjaev, arrived in Kabul on Saturday. The group held discussions with senior Taliban authorities, including the group’s Prime Minister Mullah Hassan Akhund and Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
During the meetings, both sides stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in the economic, trade, investment, and transit sectors, according to Taliban statements.
Khodjaev said Uzbekistan is ready to implement new projects, invest in Afghanistan’s mining industry, increase imports of Afghan meat and cotton, and establish a zinc stone processing plant valued at $50 million in the border town of Hairatan, Taliban-controlled Afghanistan National Television (RTA) reported.
Trade between Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has expanded steadily in recent years, reaching hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Uzbekistan has emerged as one of Afghanistan’s most important regional trading partners.
In April, the private sectors of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan signed 38 agreements worth more than $520 million, covering sectors such as iron smelting, cotton processing, and cement production. Earlier deals totaled about $514 million in poultry farming, cement, coal trade, and agricultural products.
Although Uzbekistan has not formally recognized the Taliban administration, it has maintained relations since the group’s 2021 takeover. Tashkent kept its embassy in Kabul open and later transferred Afghanistan’s embassy in Tashkent to diplomats appointed by the Taliban.
