On October 20, the Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, Sardor Umurzakov, met with the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, in Kabul, the press service of the Ministry informs.

The sides discussed a wide range of issues related to political, diplomatic, trade-economic, investment, industrial, cultural, as well as humanitarian cooperation.

Both the minister and the president noted a high level of trust between the two countries, and the open and constructive nature of bilateral cooperation at various levels. The parties also reaffirmed their commitment to continue the negotiating process in Doha (Qatar) and agreed to further develop new areas of mutually beneficial partnership to reach specific agreements.

The meeting showed that both countries are ready for practical cooperation aimed at the development of the regions of Central and South Asia through the implementation of joint projects in the areas of investment, trade, energy, transport and infrastructure development. In this context, Ashraf Ghani supported the initiative to establish cooperation with international financial institutions, in particular, the US Finance Corporation for International Development, as well as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, to attract additional sources of financing for the implementation of promising projects on transport corridor development.

Following the meeting, the sides reached an agreement on the establishment of direct cooperation between the relevant ministries and departments of the two countries in order to develop a Roadmap for strengthening cooperation in the political, trade-economic, financial, energy, transport-logistics and cultural-humanitarian spheres. Progress in the implementation of the events included in the Roadmap will be reviewed by the parties on a monthly basis.