Uzbek president inks preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan

KABUL (Pajhwok): Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan, a media report said on Wednesday.

Under the decree, the bodies authorised to implement the agreement on behalf of Uzbekistan are the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan and the Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, Daryo reported.

It said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan would notify the Afghan side once Uzbekistan completed all procedures necessary for the agreement to enter into force. The Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan and relevant government agencies will oversee compliance with the terms of the document.

Plans to sign the preferential trade agreement were first announced in August 2024. According to earlier reports, the deal includes the abolition of duties on 14 types of goods, simplified phytosanitary procedures for Afghan agricultural products and expanded support measures for exporters.

On February 25, On February 25, Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industry Nooruddin Azizi and Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister of Jamshid Khodjaev agreed to accelerate the implementation of the preferential trade agreement and enhance investment projects and industrial cooperation between the two countries. Both sides also emphasised expanding trade cooperation and increasing the volume of bilateral trade to five billion US dollars.

A preferential trade agreement is a type of trade arrangement between countries under which customs tariffs on certain goods are reduced to facilitate exports and imports and increase the level of trade between the two sides.

hz/kk