Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdulla Aripov. Photo: Uzbek government press service
A Taliban delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar visited Uzbekistan from February 22 to 23. The two sides reached agreements on expanding trade, importing electricity, exporting Afghan agricultural products, developing transportation, and constructing a railway.
The delegation included several key officials from Afghanistan’s unrecognized government, such as Minister of Mines and Petroleum Hedayatullah Badri, Minister of Transport and Aviation Hamidullah Akhundzada, Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, and Taliban central bank head Noor Ahmad Agha. According to Amu.tv, nearly all members of the delegation, including Baradar, are under UN sanctions and prohibited from traveling abroad.
Baradar met with Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev.
According to Baradar, one of the key outcomes of the visit was an agreement to reduce the cost of the 500-kilovolt power transmission line project from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan’s Dasht-e-Alwan from $252 million to $222 million. Additionally, Uzbekistan agreed to increase electricity exports to Afghanistan during the summer months while simultaneously lowering tariffs.
The two sides also reached a deal on constructing a railway from Hairatan to Herat. The project envisions extending the existing line from Hairatan through Mazar-i-Sharif to Herat in western Afghanistan, creating a strategically significant logistical corridor linking Central Asia with the Middle East. Uzbekistan will send a team to Afghanistan to prepare a feasibility study, with construction expected to begin within ten days of its completion.
Agreements were also made to facilitate trade between the two countries, including banking cooperation, reducing taxes on Afghan exports to Uzbekistan, and establishing joint trade centers. A preferential agreement was signed to eliminate customs tariffs on ten Afghan goods and include ten Uzbek products essential for Afghanistan.
Baradar proposed using national currencies for mutual trade and implementing agreements on hydrocarbons and mineral resources. He invited Uzbek investors to explore opportunities in Afghanistan, particularly in the mining sector and transit infrastructure.
In response, Jamshid Khodjaev expressed the readiness of Uzbek entrepreneurs to invest in Afghanistan’s industrial development, including oil and gas exploration and extraction. Significant progress has been made in exploring the Toti-Maidan gas field, with drilling set to begin soon. Additionally, a cement plant is planned for construction in Afghanistan’s northern Samangan Province.
Afghanistan’s central bank chief, Noor Ahmad Agha, met with Uzbekistan’s central bank chairman, Timur Ishmetov, to discuss creating mechanisms for money transfers to Afghanistan, including connecting and developing payment systems and enhancing banking capabilities between the two countries.
At the Afghan embassy in Tashkent, the Taliban delegation met with Afghan businesspeople living in Uzbekistan. Baradar urged them to return home and invest in the country, emphasizing that Afghanistan had been freed from occupation and now enjoys an unprecedented level of national security. The head of the delegation assured that Afghanistan’s investment and trade systems are free from corruption and bureaucracy, offering opportunities for both domestic and foreign investors. Baradar encouraged prioritizing sectors such as energy, mining, agriculture, transportation, infrastructure, telecommunications, technology, and healthcare.
Afghan investors and traders living in Uzbekistan expressed support for strengthening political and economic ties between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and shared their business concerns, which Baradar promised to address. According to Ariana, “Each investor expressed readiness to invest between $10 million and $100 million in Afghanistan.”
