Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

An agreement between the governments of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan on mutual provision of transit of goods through the territory of the two countries came into force, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a message on August 4.

The agreement was signed on December 5, 2017 during the official visit of the President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to Uzbekistan.

The document creates legal bases for interaction of the parties on simplification of formalities and definition of mechanisms of cargoes transit through territories of two countries.

According to the provisions of this agreement, the sides mutually grant each other the right to transit goods through the territories of their states, and also carry out preliminary coordination of the volumes of transit cargo by rail.

The document is intended to help create favorable conditions for cargo transportation, increase the transit potential of Uzbekistan and further strengthen trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Earlier, Afghanistan put forward the initiative to establish a free trade regime with Uzbekistan. It was also reported that Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are planning to create a border trade zone on the basis of Termez Cargo Center specifically for Afghan consumers with the possibility of introducing simplified currency control, visa, tax and customs regimes on its territory.

In recent years, there has been a positive dynamic in the mutual trade of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. So, for example, for six months of this year the turnover has grown by 18 percent. Last year, the trade turnover between the countries increased by 19 percent and amounted to $617.1 million.

Today, 110 enterprises with the participation of Afghan capital operate successfully in Uzbekistan. At the same time, eight enterprises have been established in Afghanistan with the participation of Uzbek residents.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz