Pakistan and Uzbekistan on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to early implementation of the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Railways project which will boost trade within the region.

In a statement issued by Pakistan’s foreign office after a meeting in Islamabad between visiting Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov and Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, the project “would give boost to bilateral and regional trade and become a bridge between South and Central Asia.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also met with Saidov and emphasized the importance of the railway project and Pakistan’s commitment to its early completion.

Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan had in February 2021 agreed to build a railway line across Afghanistan to connect Central Asia with Pakistani ports at an estimated cost of $4.8bn.

The railway project, spanning 760 kms, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, with the capability to transport up to 15 million tonnes of goods annually by 2030.

This rail link will notably decrease cargo delivery time between Uzbekistan and Pakistan by around five days, while also slashing transportation costs by at least 40 percent.

The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum says that the head of the ministry has met with a number of visiting businessmen and representatives of oil and gas processing companies from the Republic of Tatarstan.

The ministry said at the recent meeting, the visiting businessmen outlined their experience and work in the field of oil and gas extraction and processing.

In a post on X, the ministry quoted the Tatarstan group as having acknowledged an “orderly system” in Afghanistan with complete security and favorable grounds to invest.

The visitors said at the meeting their companies are considering the possibility of investing in the survey, exploration and extraction processes of oil and gas in the country, as well as the refinement stage.

Shahabuddin Delawer, Acting Minister of Mines and Petroleum, welcomed the group’s enthusiasm and said “fortunately, Afghanistan has rich oil and gas resources in various areas,” adding that currently agreements are being drawn up regarding Herat’s oil and gas blocks – something which Tatarstan businessmen could invest in.

Delaware said that the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum is ready to cooperate in accordance with the relevant laws in order to facilitate investment.

Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, is a republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe.

Afghanistan and Turkmenistan companies have signed more than 10 contracts and two memorandums of understanding on construction materials, including iron bars, paint, marble and food materials.

The contracts were signed during the trip of a Turkmen business delegation to Herat province and in the presence of Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce.

“There is excellent opportunity for the expansion of trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, which both sides should take full advantage of,” Azizi said at the signing ceremony of these contracts, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce pointed out that the contracts were inked as a follow-up to visit of the acting minister to Turkmenistan and meeting with its national leader Gurbanguly Berdi Mohammadov.

Earlier, the delegation from Turkmenistan’s private sector said that their goal is to expand economic relations between the private sectors of the two countries. They said they are hoping to buy hundreds of tons of construction materials from Afghan industrialists every year.