Afghanistan and Uzbekistan’s private-sector firms signed cooperation agreements worth $520 million, the Taliban-run commerce ministry said on Monday, in a move aimed at expanding trade and investment between the neighboring countries.
The agreements were announced after a business conference attended by Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s commerce minister, and Shuhratbek Abdurahmanov, along with business leaders and investors from both sides.
The deals cover a range of sectors, including iron smelting, cotton processing, cement production, poultry breeding and the export of Afghanistan’s coal to Uzbekistan. Agreements were also signed on manufacturing auto parts and other industrial goods.
Azizi said such meetings were essential to increasing trade and economic cooperation, pointing to Afghanistan’s agricultural resources and mineral wealth, alongside Uzbekistan’s industrial capacity, as complementary strengths.
According to the statement, Uzbek officials emphasized that the partnership would extend beyond exports.
Abdurahmanov said Uzbekistan was prepared to invest in joint ventures inside Afghanistan, including textile processing plants and the production of construction materials, medical supplies and electrical equipment.
Economic ties between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have expanded steadily in recent years, despite broader political and economic challenges. Trade between the two countries has grown to hundreds of millions of dollars annually, with Uzbekistan emerging as one of Afghanistan’s key regional trading partners.
Afghanistan’s exports coal, agricultural products and raw materials to Uzbekistan, while importing electricity, fuel and manufactured goods. Both sides have repeatedly expressed interest in increasing bilateral trade to more than $1 billion, a goal that has been discussed in previous meetings.
Analysts say the latest agreements suggest continued efforts to deepen those ties, particularly through private-sector cooperation and cross-border investment.
