Afghan media reports say the Islamic Emirate Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund met with Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Sardor Umarzakov in Kabul Tuesday (February 22) afternoon.
The parties reportedly discussed issues related to close cooperation and implementations of some important projects.
TOLOnews, citing the prime minister’s office, says high ranking officials of the Islamic Emirate government, including Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy of the PM, Amir Kahn Muttaqi, acting foreign minister, and Noruddin Azizi, acting minister of commerce were present at the meeting.
The deputy prime minister of Uzbekistan reportedly said that Afghanistan is an important in connecting Central Asia with South Asia. He stressed the need for taking steps to launch joint projects, according to Pajhwok Afghan News.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan (MoIFT) says the parties discussed the progress of implementation of agreements reached during Afghan delegation’s visit to the Uzbek city of Termez in October last year.
The parties, in particular, discussed priority tasks to increase mutual trade and eliminate of existing trade and transport barriers
In this context, it was proposed to use the capabilities of the International Trade Center “Termez”, which unites logistics center, industrial premises, warehouses, sales outlets and the necessary infrastructure in its territory.
The Afghan side reportedly expressed readiness to support Uzbekistan’s initiatives to implement joint infrastructure projects in Afghanistan aimed at increasing transport and transit capacities of the countries of the region.
The parties, in particular, reached an agreement to jointly work out mutually acceptable conditions for movement of vehicles and cargo proceeding through Afghan territory, with the prospect of increasing its (Afghanistan) transit capacity through the introduction of alternative transportation routes, says the MoIFT press center.
The sides reportedly also discussed bilateral economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation and set primary tasks to address existing issues in priority areas.
