The delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjayev met with Mullah Abdul-Ghani Baradar, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Taliban government for economic issues.

At the meeting, there was a detailed exchange of views on such issues as transport, technical extraction of mines, water management, development of agriculture, as well as higher education for Afghan youth in Uzbekistan.

The economic deputy of the Prime Minister’s Department added that Afghanistan uses the roads of Uzbekistan more for the purpose of trade and transit with the countries of Central Asia. The transit fee for Afghan goods on this route is high compared to other routes, which has been requested to be reduced.

According to Mr. Mullah Sahib, in order to have a balanced trade balance between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, it is desirable for Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan to increase significantly, and in this regard, Uzbekistan should consider special preferential tariffs for Afghanistan.

During his speech, Jamshid Khodjayev noted that Uzbekistan is ready to cooperate with Afghanistan in the fields of agriculture, transport, railway, trade, transit, water management and mining industry.

Khodjayev added that the Uzbek side has created a map of trade routes to increase Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan. According to him, the volume of trade between the two countries is about $3 billion.

He also said that facilities for obtaining visas have been created for Afghan businessmen and drivers, and a large center will be established.