Senior officials of Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan will meet inTashkent next week for a trilateral meeting to discuss a railway project tolink Termez, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, and Peshawar, to promote trade in theregion.
Minister of State and Chairman Board of Investment, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan,has left for Uzbekistan to take part in the trilateral meetings andrepresent Pakistan at the “Tashkent International Investment Forum.”
In a press release issued by BOI, the chairman will also meet the Presidentof the Republic of Uzbekistan on the sidelines of these meetings andinteract with potential investors from many countries as the head of thedelegation from Pakistan for B2B meetings.
The Uzbek President is taking special interest in the laying of the railwaytrack with Pakistan via Afghanistan for its future trade and businessactivities. Uzbekistan, being a landlocked country, depends on Iran’s traderoutes for its imports and exports, and the sanctions on Iran have made itdifficult for Uzbekistan to continue using the same route.
The proposed railway connectivity has also been discussed at variousinternational forums, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO).
During his visit to Pakistan early this month, Uzbek President, ShavkatMirziyoyev, reaffirmed the important role of the railway project linkingthe three countries for the future of the region.
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Pakistan and Uzbekistan had also agreed to create a joint ‘roadmap,’ whichincludes measures to develop a feasibility study for the project and startconstruction work on both sides.
The Trans-Afghan Railway project is the most economical and shortest routeconnecting Central Asia to Pakistan’s ports of Karachi, Gwadar, and PortQasim.
Azfar Ahsan will also be the keynote speaker at the inaugural session,“Tashkent International Investment Forum,” which will be held in Tashkent,Uzbekistan, on March 24-26, 2022.
The forum will be convened under the theme, “Realizing New Growth Agenda.”President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, will deliver the openingspeech at the event.
