Trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has continued to expand this year, with Uzbek government data showing Afghanistan has become one of Tashkent’s 10 largest trading partners, while Taliban say the two sides have signed dozens of commercial agreements aimed at deepening economic ties.
According to Uzbekistan’s National Statistics Committee, total trade between the two countries reached $915.8 million during the first months of 2026. Uzbekistan exported $804 million worth of goods to Afghanistan and imported $111 million, making Afghanistan one of Uzbekistan’s largest trading partners after China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Türkiye.
The latest step came during the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan Business Forum, where business leaders from both countries signed 22 trade agreements worth more than $200 million, according to the Taliban’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce. The agreements were signed between private-sector representatives in Kabul and Uzbekistan’s Fergana region.
During the forum, Sayed Karim Hashemi, chairman of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, and Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojayev reaffirmed their goal of increasing annual bilateral trade to $5 billion.
“Mutual trust, sincere cooperation and our shared interests can make us stable economic and strategic partners,” Hashemi said. “Fortunately, relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have entered a new and promising stage in recent years.”
Taliban say Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have signed 90 trade agreements and memorandums of understanding worth more than $1.4 billion since the beginning of 2026.
Siyar Quraishi, an economic analyst, said Uzbekistan’s expanding commercial ties with Afghanistan reflect both economic and strategic interests.
“Alongside cooperation with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan is undoubtedly pursuing its own economic interests,” he said. “It sees Afghanistan as an important market and a gateway to South Asia.”
Uzbekistan exports electricity, petroleum products, machinery, food and industrial goods to Afghanistan, while Afghanistan’s exports largely consist of agricultural products.
Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s acting minister of Industry and Commerce, said growing trade with Central Asia had helped offset disruptions along Afghanistan’s southern trade routes.
“If our routes to the south were closed by those we once called brothers, the doors to Central Asia opened, and our people did not face shortages,” Azizi said.
The two countries have also expanded cross-border commercial cooperation through a joint trade market in Uzbekistan’s border city of Termez. The market, inaugurated in August 2024, was established to facilitate trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.
