On Monday July 1, Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov met with Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province in northern Afghanistan.

According to Ferghana.news, the two discussed a broad range of issues related to economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.  

Aripov reportedly said that Uzbekistan is ready to facilitate and closely cooperate with Afghanistan in different sectors, including agriculture, trade, electricity, railway, and gas.

The Uzbek official added that Uzbekistan will provide 45 million U.S. dollars for construction of the transmission of power line from Sarkhan area in Uzbekistan’s Bukhara oblast to Pul-e Khomri city, the capital of Baghlan Province in northern Afghanistan, which is almost 200 kilometers in length and it costs 110 million U.S. dollars. 

The Afghan authorities have committed themselves to creating more opportunities for Uzbek investors and they are expecting Uzbekistan to pave the ground for Afghan investors.

Meanwhile, Afghan media reports say Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah thanked his Uzbek counterpart for their interest in trade and investment in Afghanistan.

He reportedly said the two countries had signed agreements and memorandum of understandings and now it is the time to cooperate and take practical steps in implementing them.

Abdullah further said that the trade volume between the two countries is good but added that the capacities are available for a high volume of trade.