Tashkent [Uzbekistan], October 30 : Uzbekistan's Minister of Economy and Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov has called for peace and stability in Afghanistan, saying it is important for the region, TOLO News reported.
TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.
Kuchkarov visited Afghanistan on Sunday and met with several Taliban officials including the Taliban's appointed Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and the acting Minister of Industry and Commerce.
"The ministers of agriculture and water resources of Uzbekistan are among the delegation and want to use their experiences in Afghanistan," Kuchkarov told a gathering held at Afghanistan's Presidential Palace.
The Taliban-appointed deputy PM's office said that the two sides discussed trade, transit and economic relations as well as cooperation in railways, transport, the extraction of mines, water management and the facilitation of educational opportunities for Afghan youth.
"The visits of the senior delegation show that the contacts between the two sides are strengthening. We hope we have good improvements in this meeting, particularly in the field of trade and transit," Mullah Baradar said, as per Tolo News.
Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, said that efforts are underway to increase trade between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan to USD 3 billion and that the Hairatan port will be operating 24/7 from next month.
"The decision has been taken that our trade will be boosted from USD 600 million to USD 3 billion because the President has said to increase the trade rate to USD 2 billion but we are happy that we will increase it to USD 3 billion," he said.
Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged the officials of the two countries to boost facilities for the traders on both sides.
"There was no security before in Afghanistan. There was only poppy cultivation... Afghanistan is now a good field for investment," said Mohammad Younus Momand, first deputy of the ACCI.
An exhibition of Uzbekistani products was also inaugurated in the presence of the delegation in Chaman Hozori Park in Kabul.
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