A high-ranking delegation of Afghanistan, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, visited Uzbekistan late last week, TOLOnews reported.
Mullah Baradar described the visit as productive, stating that during negotiations with Uzbek officials, agreements were reached on expanding trade, importing electricity, exporting Afghanistan’s agricultural products, developing transportation, and constructing a railway in Afghanistan.
He noted that as a result of discussions with Uzbek officials, the cost of the 500-kilovolt transmission line project was reduced from $252 million to $222 million.
He also announced that a technical delegation from Uzbekistan would visit Afghanistan for preliminary studies on the Hairatan-Herat railway project.
Nooruddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s acting minister of industry and commerce, said that discussions were held to facilitate trade activities between the two countries, including banking cooperation, reducing taxes on Afghan exports to Uzbekistan, and establishing joint trade centers.
