On September 11, 2019, at the “Arg” Palace in Kabul, a ceremonial event was held to mark the launch of the first container train from Afghanistan to China through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the MFA press service said.

The event was attended by the President of Afghanistan Muhammad Ashraf Ghani, members of the Government, deputies of both houses of the Parliament, representatives of the socio-political and business circles of Afghanistan, as well as the diplomatic corps.

As the Uzbek embassy states, Afghan Minister of Transport Yama Yari spoke about the development of transport corridors in the country and plans to export Afghan products to China. He welcomed the successful delivery of the first 41-wagon container train from the port of Hairaton to China. The Minister said that the railway transport will not only increase Afghanistan’s exports several times, but also reduce the time of delivery.

In his speech, Afghan President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani pointed out that Afghanistan is a link between Central and South Asia because of its unique geographical location. “Today is a historic day for Afghanistan and it is moving towards the development of an export-oriented economy,” the Afghan leader said.

Muhammad Ashraf Ghani highly appreciated the efforts of Uzbekistan in the development of cargo transit, transport and communications in the region and expressed special gratitude to the leadership of the Republic for facilitating the transit of Afghan goods to China: “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my dear friend President Shavkat Mirziyoyev for his assistance to the people and government of our country in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan”.

On September 12, 2019, a conference on “Afghanistan’s role as a regional transit center” continued at the Kabul Polytechnic University. It was attended by representatives of the socio-political and business circles of Afghanistan, as well as the diplomatic corps, the report said.