The Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Monday said that based on business and transit agreements signed between Kabul and Tashkent, Uzbekistan has dropped its transit fees for Afghan goods being trucked through the country.

Finance Minister Iklil Hakimi said until now, Uzbekistan has charged $2,500 USD for every container full of goods that travels through the county, but the fees have dropped to only $1,250 USD.

Hakimi also said Afghanistan will in future be connected by road, through Uzbekistan to Asian countries and Russia.

“In the past, for each 40ft container we paid around $2,500 USD dollars but now we pay half of the amount and we did the same with Uzbekistan, we halved our fees,” said Hakimi.

Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) officials meanwhile said Uzbekistan is a good partner to Afghanistan in terms of transit and business and that government should promote the relationship.

ACCI spokesman Seyam Pisarlay said Uzbekistan can play a vital role in helping Afghanistan to expand its trade relationships with other countries in the country.

“Uzbekistan is interested in all three sectors, transit, trade and investment, and we can also use Uzbekistan’s cargo center,” said head of ACCI Khanjan Alkozai.

According to the ACCI, currently the trade volume between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan totals over $400,000 million USD a year.