President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan signed a decree on March 6 ratifying a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan. The document was published on the Lex.uz portal and aims to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries.

The agreement was signed on June 10, 2025, in Tashkent during the Tashkent International Investment Forum. It was signed by Uzbekistan's Minister of Investment, Industry, and Trade Laziz Kudratov and Afghanistan's Acting Minister of Industry and Trade Nuriddin Azizi. Authorized bodies for implementing the agreement are the Ministry of Investment, Industry, and Trade and the Customs Committee under the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan.

The agreement provides for the elimination of customs duties on 14 types of goods, simplification of phytosanitary procedures for Afghan agricultural products, and expansion of support measures for Uzbek exporters. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked with notifying the Afghan side about Uzbekistan's completion of domestic procedures necessary for the agreement to enter into force.

Control over the implementation of the document's provisions after its entry into force is assigned to the Cabinet of Ministers and relevant state bodies. In February, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojaev held online negotiations with Nuriddin Azizi, discussing the acceleration of the agreement's entry into force, promotion of investment projects, and development of industrial cooperation.

The parties also discussed holding a new joint business forum in Kabul after Ramadan, which is expected to serve as a platform for further development of trade and economic cooperation. According to Khojaev's LinkedIn post last month, the volume of mutual trade from 2021 to 2025 increased 2.5 times, reaching $1.7 billion.

Source: kun.uz