Trade and Transit Top Agenda as Uzbek Delegation Visits Afghanistan

Crossroads Asia | Economy | Central Asia

The Taliban requested Uzbekistan to decrease transit charges for cargo shifting via the Central Asian nation whereas praising the bilateral relationship and airing anticipation of accelerating Afghan exports.

The matter arose throughout the go to of a high-level Uzbek delegation to Kabul in late October. 

Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khojaev led a delegation to the Afghan capital on October 29-30. According to reporting from Gazeta.uz, he was accompanied by Minister of Energy Zhurabek Mirzamahmudov, Minister of Transport Ilham Makhkamov, Minister of Water Resources Shavkat Hamraev, Minister of Mining and Geology Bobir Islamov, Minister of Agriculture Ibrahim Abdurakhmonov, Special Representative of the President for Afghanistan Ismatulla Irgashev, and others, together with a large group of enterprise representatives.

Trade and transit have been the top-line objects for the go to, alongside cooperation in a variety of associated sectors, together with railways, mines, water administration, and even academic alternatives in Uzbekistan for Afghans. 

The Taliban aspect was led by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. According to a Taliban authorities readout of the assembly, Baradar “underlined Afghanistan’s commitment to serving as a pivotal transit point in the region.”

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He “praised the balanced trade relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and anticipated a significant increase in Afghan exports to Uzbekistan. In light of this, he encouraged Uzbekistan to consider special preferential tariffs and friendly trade interactions.”

Kun.uz reported {that a} joint working group had been shaped to investigate the payment constructions in place. According to feedback to Kun.uz by Uzbek Ministry of Transport  press secretary Navruz Ashurmatov, an settlement was reached to arrange a working group “with the aim of comparing the amounts of fees and payments collected from national carriers on the territory of the two states, discussing and finding solutions to existing problems in the field of cargo transportation with the participation of carriers of the two states, [and] responsible government bodies.”

For his half, per the Taliban readout, Khojaev expressed Uzbekistan’s readiness to collaborate with Afghanistan and reportedly revealed a “trade route map” aimed toward boosting Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan, “with the goal of increasing the trade volume between the two countries to approximately $3 billion” from the present degree of round $600 million. Khojaev famous Uzbek plans to simplify visa procedures for Afghan entrepreneurs and drivers, in addition to plans to open a enterprise middle in Termez to cater to Afghan companies. 

What’s maybe most outstanding is simply now regular relations between the Taliban and Uzbekistan are, regardless of the truth that no authorities – together with Tashkent – has formally acknowledged the Taliban regime following its ascent to energy in August 2021. That stays a technicality on the worldwide stage, one clearly not impeding cooperation throughout the border the place mutual pursuits meet. 

Nevertheless, there stay factors of rivalry within the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan relationship, significantly concerning the Qosh Tepa canal. The canal goals to divert water from the Amu Darya – a transboundary river that kinds a part of Afghanistan’s northern borders with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan – and can arguably have an effect on the entire parched area. Uzbekistan is anticipated to dispatch a delegation by the tip of the 12 months to debate the venture extra absolutely with the Taliban.

As Niginakhon Saida famous in a report earlier this 12 months, “Kabul is not part of any transboundary water agreements with its northern neighbors.” And in September, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, talking at an Aral Sea-focused assembly in Dushanbe, famous {that a} “new participant” within the realm of water use within the area had appeared – an indirect reference to the Taliban. Uzbekistan’s approached to the canal venture seems measured, not dismissing the venture altogether however clearly searching for to drag the Taliban into consultative processes concerning water sharing within the area and maybe gradual the venture down to completely take into account the impacts. 

Uzbekistan’s considerations about water could pair effectively with the Taliban’s considerations about transit charges, offering room for negotiation during which all sides could get a few of what it needs from the opposite.