Central Asian countries push for regional development at Termez Dialogue
Representatives of Central Asian countries have come together to maximise the region's economic opportunities and make an effort to support Afghanistan, which is now signalling a business-oriented international outreach after years of isolation.
The Termez Dialogue on Connectivity Between Central and South Asia, which included leaders from Central Asian countries along with India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, was held in the southern Uzbek city of Termez.
The meeting was initiated by Uzbekistan, a strong supporter of the economic integration of its neighbour Afghanistan, which is now in the fifth year of the Taliban government.
The Central Asian countries have for years been pushing for what they call "acceptance of reality" in the region and engagement with Afghanistan.
In 2022 Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, proposed a platform for Central and South Asian countries to collaborate, which was later reflected in a UN General Assembly resolution.
The meeting in Termez is an effort to turn the ideas presented in the resolution into a reality.
"The main goal of this dialogue is to create a permanent, functional platform within which the representatives of Central and South Asian countries can discuss a wide range of cooperation issues, from interconnectivity, trade and economic cooperation to humanitarian exchange," Eldor Aripov, Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies, said.
Most of the region's countries have already started their first infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.
There are now high-voltage power lines to Afghanistan running from both from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Through them Afghanistan receives regular aid in the form of electricity.
Turkmenistan's deputy foreign minister Temirbek Erkinov pointed out a new road and a railway from his country to Afghanistan projects are in the planning for the route to be extended as far as the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
The participants in the Termez talks repeatedly pointed out the cultural and historic ties between the countries in the region and were all clear about one thing.
Since they became independent from the Soviet Union, the landlocked countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, were cut off both from the nearest deep sea ports in Pakistan and from the vast markets of Pakistan and India due to ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
No pipeline, road or railway line was viable through the vast swathes of Afghanistan that were deemed unsafe.
That situation has changed and Afghanistan now has a government which seems to be able to provide security for major projects. An opportunity not to be missed, in the opinion of Central Asian leaders.
"We want active engagement on a number of concrete infrastructure projects, first of all Afghan Trans Railway Corridor. You know that all the countries of the region are land-locked, Uzbekistan is double-land locked as we have to cross two borders to reach the nearest sea," explained Aripov.
"This is why the question of transport communication is the most important topic for all the central and south Asian countries. We are committed to the Trans Afghan corridor above all because it will connect Pakistani ports to the countries of Central Asia."
"Right now, trade between Central and South Asia is worth five billion dollars. That is nothing. It does not remotely reflect the potential that's there. Europe is much further away and our trade exchange with them is ten times higher," he added.
Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister Mohammad Naeem Wardak joined the summit to announce Kabul's intentions to get involved in trade, transit and stronger regional economic cooperation, to act what he called "a regional connector and a transit route."
"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is making efforts to make Afghanistan the connectivity point in this region. Afghanistan's position is to the benefit of all the countries around us in the region," he said.
He insisted that Afghanistan is already providing security in the region by tackling drug trafficking, eradicating poppy fields and fighting organised crime and terrorism.
But his government is eager to engage more, economically, he said.
"Afghanistan is centrally located and is the bridge between Central and South Asia. As such, it represents a bridge. Unfortunately, we had 40 years of fighting and the opportunity did not exist. Now, thanks to Allah, with the return of the Islamic Emirate, the opportunities for development are in place," he told Euronews.
The city of Termez, situated on the border between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan on the bank of the Amu Darya river, has been a logistics hub for the caravans travelling between east and west along the ancient Silk Road.
During Soviet times it was reduced to a distant outpost and served as the Red Army's entry point to Afghanistan in 1979.
A project which envisions the city regaining some of its former glory and bringing the prosperity of a trade hub is under way.
On a patch of land on the border, Uzbekistan built a free trade zone in 2024 for Afghan companies and a logistics centre.
Afghan nationals can enter the zone as part of a 15-day visa-free regime.
Almost half a million Afghans have already made use of the opportunity, opening businesses thanks to a simplified registration procedure and enjoying duty free trade.
Around 100 shops are currently active there and a further 500 have been announced. A cargo centre within the zone is used to load more than 70 lorries, and a daily train transports goods to both sides of the border.
A modern hospital, opened last year, with 380 doctors working in 15 different areas has treated around 48,000 Afghan patients, paid for by the Uzbek government.
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Around 300 complicated surgeries were performed that patients were unable to have in Afghanistan.
A business school for medium and small enterprises was also opened and teaches some 500 shop owners how to run and develop their business.
"We have seen the surge of trade contracts in the last year. Last year the increase was 160%, and they are now worth $560 million (€494 million)," said the governor of the Surkhandarya region, Ulugbek Kosimov.
He also hopes that the development of trade routes from Russia in the north to India in the south and from Iran in the west and China in the east, with all the countries along the road, will see his province prosper in what he called a "new renaissance."
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