Uzbekistan’s state media has reported the country’s foreign trade volume, stating that in the first ten months of the current calendar year, Uzbekistan conducted trade with Afghanistan worth nearly $900 million.
According to the report, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Afghanistan, France, and Kyrgyzstan were Uzbekistan’s key export partners during this period.
During the mentioned timeframe, Uzbekistan exported goods worth $855.9 million to Afghanistan and imported goods worth $28.3 million from Afghanistan.
“Uzbekistan is a very good partner for us in the region. We import most of our goods from this country, and our transit routes also heavily rely on it. There is no doubt that we mainly import food items like wheat and flour from there. Sometimes we also bring in fuel and, in general, most of our essential goods come from Uzbekistan,” said Khan Jan Alokozay, a member of the board of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, commenting on trade with Uzbekistan.
The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation stated that Afghanistan currently has good transport relations with Uzbekistan, with up to 650 Afghan freight vehicles operating daily in various cities of Uzbekistan.
“Currently, about 650 Afghan trucks export and import goods daily in various cities of Uzbekistan. Hundreds of Uzbek trucks also travel to Afghanistan, facilitating transit. This indicates significant improvements in this sector, which positively impacts trade and transit, “said Imamuddin Ahmadi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Some traders have called for more facilities in transport and commercial visas with Uzbekistan.
“Our request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs leadership, which always supports traders and facilitates our work, is to ensure easier access to visas for all countries. We need visas to boost our exports and imports with other countries,” said Omid Haidari, a trader.
Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country, conducts the most trade with Afghanistan. Recently, Uzbekistan signed a ten-year agreement with the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum to explore and extract gas from the “Tuti Madan” area in Jowzjan province, valued at nearly $1 billion.