Afghan and Kazakh businesses signed 25 cooperation agreements during an Afghanistan-Kazakhstan trade forum in Kabul, the Taliban’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce said on Sunday, marking the latest effort by both sides to expand trade and investment ties.
According to the ministry, the agreements were signed between private-sector representatives from the two countries and cover a range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, vegetables, fresh and dried fruits, flour, wheat, cooking oil, potatoes and banking services.
The ministry said the agreements are expected to strengthen economic cooperation and expand commercial relations between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.
The deals were announced as part of a three-day trade forum and exhibition attended by senior Taliban and Kazakh officials, including Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s minister of industry and commerce, and Serik Zhumangarin, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister and minister of national economy.
On Saturday, Taliban said bilateral trade between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan had nearly doubled since 2022 and increased by roughly 41 percent over the past year. The two sides have also discussed a roadmap aimed at raising annual trade to $3 billion.
Kazakhstan has emerged as one of Afghanistan’s most important economic partners in Central Asia, supplying wheat and flour while expanding cooperation in transportation, logistics, agriculture and investment.
The growing relationship comes as Afghan businesses face mounting challenges accessing traditional maritime trade routes.
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment recently has said that disruptions affecting key transit corridors through Karachi, Jebel Ali and Bandar Abbas have forced traders to rely increasingly on overland routes through Central Asia.
Business leaders say those alternatives are slower and more costly, but they have also increased the strategic importance of countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as gateways for Afghan imports and regional commerce.
