According to the Tashkent city administration, the issue was discussed during negotiations held on July 25, when a Tashkent delegation visited Afghanistan's Bamyan and Herat provinces. The talks were attended by Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjayev, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Davron Vakhobov, as well as representatives of relevant ministries and agencies from both countries. The sides also discussed plans to establish trade houses in the two Afghan provinces.
The Tashkent city administration noted that the working visit is part of broader efforts initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to elevate trade and economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The visit aims to significantly increase trade turnover between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, particularly with Tashkent. Discussions also focused on expanding exports and attracting investment in sectors including food production, electrical engineering, textiles, construction materials, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing and chemicals.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Afghanistan's Bamyan province has the potential to export up to 300,000 tonnes of potatoes to Uzbekistan annually. Thanks to its mountainous climate, Bamyan is widely regarded as Afghanistan's “potato capital.”
As part of a pilot project, 44 tonnes of high-yield Fontane seed potatoes suitable for export and industrial processing have been planted across 17 hectares. Officials said the crop is developing well and a strong harvest is expected.
The project is expected to increase potato yields, introduce modern agricultural technologies and deepen agricultural cooperation between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The two sides also agreed to strengthen direct business-to-business ties, increase bilateral trade and launch new joint projects in agriculture.
According to the Afghan side, the long-term goal is to increase bilateral trade turnover to $5 billion.
Plans to import between 50,000 and 300,000 tonnes of affordable, high-quality potatoes from Bamyan province each year were also discussed in May. At that time, the parties additionally proposed establishing a modern storage facility in the province for collecting, storing and exporting fruit and involving Afghan farmers in training programs in Uzbekistan.
