Business
Indian trucks carry cargo to Uzbekistan for first time via Afghanistan and Pakistan
Hopes of turning Afghanistan into a key trade link between Central and South Asia are high after an Indian trader exported commercial goods to landlocked Uzbekistan through Pakistan and Afghanistan this week.
VOA reported that trucks carrying 140 tons of cargo, mostly Indian sugar, departed Kabul on Wednesday for the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.
An Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) spokesman Mawlana Zaheer told VOA the shipment arrived in the Afghan capital from Pakistan via the Torkham border crossing.
The Afghan ministry of commerce organized a special ceremony to facilitate the transit of the Indian goods, hailing it as a major step toward turning Afghanistan into a key trade link between Central and South Asia.
The commercial cargo originated from Mumbai, India, and traveled through the Karachi seaport in Pakistan earlier this month before being trucked to its Uzbek importer under a recently inked bilateral transit trade agreement between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, a Pakistani official told VOA.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the agreement along with several other documents during his two-day official visit to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in early March.
The Pakistani official emphasized that the Uzbekistan-bound Indian commercial consignment was a privately arranged activity under the agreement and had no government involvement from any of the four countries.
“It will now become a regular activity, and Uzbekistan will be able to import goods from anywhere through Pakistani seaports,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
IEA authorities are bound to facilitate the trade activity because Uzbekistan, like landlocked Afghanistan, also has rights to access Pakistani ports to conduct international trade, the official added.
Islamabad allows Kabul to use its ports and land and air routes to conduct trade with other countries under a long-running bilateral arrangement known as the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA).
Ariana Afghan Airlines has announced a reduction in cargo service rates on the Kabul–Delhi route as part of efforts to support Afghanistan’s trade and export sector.
The airline said the new cargo rate has been set at $1.20 per kilogram, a move intended to make air freight more affordable and accessible for Afghan traders and exporters.
Bakht-ur-Rahman Sharafat, head of Ariana Afghan Airlines, said the decision is expected to play a significant role in increasing exports of domestic products and strengthening commercial activity between Afghanistan and India.
He added that Ariana will continue to introduce new measures in the future to improve its services and better meet the needs of its customers.
Thirteen trade and investment memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth more than $100 million were signed between private sector representatives of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan during a conference held in Kabul on Saturday.
The conference, which brought together business leaders and officials from both countries, focused on expanding bilateral economic cooperation, increasing trade volume, and identifying new investment opportunities.
Speaking at the event, Nooruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Afghanistan, said economic relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan have gained notable momentum in recent months. He stressed that Afghanistan is actively working to strengthen regional trade ties and create a more favorable environment for investors.
Azizi added that Afghanistan offers significant investment potential, particularly due to its available workforce and emerging opportunities across multiple sectors, and is ready to welcome joint ventures with foreign partners.
Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Afghanistan said the government has facilitated around $2 billion in investment across various sectors over the past year, reflecting growing investor interest in the country’s economy.
The Uzbek delegation also reiterated its commitment to expanding economic relations with Afghanistan, describing the agreements as an important step toward deeper regional cooperation.
Amanbay Orynbayev, head of Uzbekistan’s Karakalpakstan delegation, said his country places strong emphasis on long-term, transparent, and reliable economic partnerships. He encouraged Afghan traders to take advantage of joint investment opportunities to access new regional markets.
The Afghan private sector welcomed the agreements, expressing hope that increased trade engagement and business exchanges will further strengthen economic ties between the two neighboring countries.
Officials noted that the total value of agreements signed between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has now exceeded $1.5 billion. If implemented effectively, these commitments are expected to contribute to increased trade flows and broader economic growth in Afghanistan.
A new multimodal freight corridor linking China and Afghanistan via Turkmenistan has been officially launched, aiming to improve the speed and efficiency of overland cargo transportation across Central Asia.
According to the Turkmenistan Embassy in London, the country has become part of a newly established route designed to accelerate freight deliveries between China and Afghanistan.
The corridor, developed with the involvement of Uzbekistan Railways’ subsidiary Uztemiryulcontainer, covers approximately 7,400 kilometers and is expected to reduce transit time to around 30 days, improving overall logistics efficiency.
Under the new route, containers are transported by rail from China through the Altynkol station in Kazakhstan, continuing via Uzbekistan to a logistics hub in Bukhara. From there, cargo is transferred to road transport and moved across Turkmenistan before reaching Herat in Afghanistan.
Officials say the new system integrates rail and road networks into a unified logistics chain, making transport more predictable and efficient.
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