Based on a decision by Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on March 6, the international agreement on preferential trade between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has been officially confirmed. This deal marks a significant step in strengthening economic cooperation and boosting trade volume between the two nations.

The Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade, along with the Customs Committee under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, have been designated as responsible for implementing this agreement. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been tasked with sending a notification to the Afghan side regarding Uzbekistan's completion of the necessary domestic procedures for the document to take effect.

The preferential trade agreement, along with a bilateral cooperation program in trade-economic and industrial sectors for 2025−2026, was signed in Tashkent in June of last year. At that time, President Mirziyoyev, in a meeting with Afghanistan's acting Minister of Industry and Trade Nuriddin Azizi, emphasized that strengthening the contractual-legal basis for economic cooperation with Kabul is a priority task.

In recent negotiations, the Afghan minister and Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojayev agreed to accelerate the launch of the preferential trade regime, as well as advance projects in investment and industrial cooperation. Over the past five years, trade volume between the countries has increased 2.5-fold—from $653 million in 2021 to $1.68 billion in 2025 (of which $1.5 billion accounts for Uzbekistan's exports). The parties have set their next target at $5 billion.

Source: www.gazeta.uz