During the visit of the Afghan government and business delegation to Uzbekistan in Termez on May 25, the Deputy PM/Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Sardor Umrzakov held talks with the Chief of Staff of the President of Afghanistan Mohammad Shakir Korgar.

The main item on the agenda was the Mazar-e-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project and the practical aspects of its implementation. The parties discussed the issues of conducting field research, preparation of design estimates, project financing, and developed mutually acceptable solutions for each of them. The next steps to expedite the implementation of agreements reached during a high-level tripartite working group meeting in Tashkent in February this year have been identified.

The parties welcomed the successful outcome of the pilot car drive from Pakistan to Uzbekistan thorugh Afghanistan in April-May and back. They agreed to continue cooperation in this area to further develop the transport and transit potential of the two countries.

Emphasizing the development of industrial cooperation, the parties stressed the urgency of step up efforts to expand investment partnerships between the two countries. In this regard, the most promising areas are light industry, electrical engineering, construction materials, agriculture, leather and footwear and food production.

The sides also discussed prospects for deepening trade and economic cooperation, underscoring that the volume of the two-way trade grew by 1.5 times over the past four years reaching US$ 800 million last year. The parties reiterated their readiness to take joint measures to ensure that the Uzbek-Afghan trade turnover to top US$ 2 billion in the coming years. In order to intensify trade cooperation, the relevant ministries and departments of the two countries decided to expedite signing of a preferential trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan by the end of this year.

The sides discussed issues of cooperation in the energy sector, in particular, the acceleration of the the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri transmission line project. The parties discussed ways of practical cooperation in the preparation of the necessary project documentation and identified the next steps to begin construction.

Prospects for cooperation in the field of health were also discussed. The parties expressed mutual interest in the establishment of modern medical centers in the border areas of the two countries, equipped with high-tech equipment and the necessary medicines, in order to establish a comprehensive system of medical services to the local population.