BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 26
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan will accelerate the approval of the draft Preferential Trade Agreement with a view to signing it by the end of this year, Trend reports referring to the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan.
Negotiations on May 25 in the city of Termez were held between the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Sardor Umurzakov with the head of the Presidential Administration of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Mohammad Shakir Kargar within the framework of the visit of the government and business circles of Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.
The key topic on the agenda was the project for the construction of the Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar railway, as well as the practical aspects of its implementation. The parties considered the issues of field expeditions, preparation of design estimates, project financing, for each of which appropriate decisions were made.
At the same time, the parties welcomed the success of the pilot motor rally from April through May from Pakistan to Uzbekistan and back through the territory of Afghanistan. The parties agreed to continue cooperation in this direction for the further development of the transport and transit potential of the two countries.
Also, the urgency of intensifying work to expand investment partnership between the two countries with an emphasis on the development of industrial cooperation was emphasized. The most promising areas in this regard were the light industry, electrical engineering, production of building materials, agriculture, leather and footwear and food industries.
It was noted at the meeting that the volume of mutual trade between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan over the past four years has grown by one and a half times, amounting to about $800 million at the end of last year. The parties confirmed their readiness to implement joint measures to ensure the growth of Uzbek-Afghan trade to the level of $2 billion in the coming years.
In addition, an agreement was reached that in order to intensify trade cooperation, the relevant ministries and departments of the two countries will accelerate the approval of the draft agreement on preferential trade in order to sign it by the end of this year.
Also, the great potential of the ‘International Trade Center Termez’ free trade zone was noted. The parties agreed to work out joint measures as soon as possible to attract entrepreneurs of the two countries to establish cooperation using the resources and capabilities of this platform.
Furthermore, issues of interaction in the energy sector were discussed, in particular, the acceleration of the implementation of the project for the construction of the Surkhan - Puli-Khumri power transmission line. The parties discussed the format of practical cooperation in the preparation of the necessary project documentation and outlined further steps to start construction work.
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