Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 9
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The governments of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan signed a protocol, a source in the governmental circles of Uzbekistan told Trend.
The protocol envisages the development of bilateral cooperation in the fields of commerce, power engineering, transport and transit.
The protocol was signed following the Uzbek-Afghan intergovernmental negotiations in Tashkent.
The document was signed by Elyor Ganiev, Uzbekistan's Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade and Shakir Kargar, special envoy to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The document envisages the development of cooperation in the sphere of railway transport development, in particular in the direction of Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat in the north-west of Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan Railways State Joint-Stock Railway Company extended a contract for the operation, maintenance and management of the Hairatan - Mazar-i-Sharif railway line in Afghanistan for three years in March 2015.
This railway line was built by the Uzbek railway company in 2010.
During the talks, the sides reached an agreement on the opening of Uzbekistan's trading house of in the capital of Afghanistan in the near future. They also reached an agreement on the preparation of an intergovernmental agreement on the opening of regular flights between the capitals of the two countries.
According to Uzbekistan's side, at present, Afghanistan's share in a total trade turnover of Uzbekistan is insignificant and does not exceed four percent. Some 122 enterprises with the Afghan investors' share operate in Uzbekistan, 39 of them operate with Afghanistan's full capital.