Afghanistan, Tajikistan sign trade agreements

Tajikistan’s Transport Minister Khuodyorzada Khudoyor headed a ten-member delegation to attend the 6th Economic and Trade Cooperation meeting in Kabul this week.

Khuoyor assured that his country was committed to providing better opportunities and improving transit of Afghan goods through Tajikistan to Europe and China.

Both countries agreed on expanding cooperation in the transport infrastructure sector, increasing exports and improving economic growth.

Meanwhile, Afghan Economy Minister Abdul Sattar Murad said that strong economic cooperation and trade between is vital for economic growth of both countries.

This comes as Afghanistan has started looking for alternative routes for import and export of goods after recent closures of borders by Pakistan and have since increased trade volumes from Turkey, Iran and India.

Afghanistan and Tajikistan’s trade volume has doubled recently.

According to Khudoyor, in the first quarter of the current year Tajikistan exported $74 million USD in goods to Afghanistan, of which $11million USD was in cement.