Uzbekistan has proposed a special trade and transit corridor through Afghanistan after trade with Pakistan fell sharply, and Pakistan called the idea acceptable, the Dunyo news agency reported.
The proposal was discussed on Nov. 8 in Islamabad at a meeting between Uzbekistan’s ambassador, Alisher Tukhtaev, and Sajid Amin, director general of Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC). Officials of Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry and SIFC also took part.
The talks focused on trade problems caused by the closure of the traditional transport route between the two countries, which participants said had sharply cut bilateral trade. The proposed corridor would run from Pakistan’s Peshawar-Torkham route through Afghanistan to Termez in Uzbekistan, with cargo moved under separate control mechanisms.
The Pakistani side said the current transport restrictions were imposed because of the security situation. It called the proposal acceptable.
To examine the initiative in practical terms, the sides proposed online talks involving Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Investments, Industry and Trade, its Transport Ministry and the relevant Pakistani agencies.
The meeting also covered other areas of cooperation. The sides discussed bringing major Pakistani construction companies into the New Tashkent project, and SIFC leaders said they were ready to help attract financially strong, reliable firms. They also discussed Pakistani business participation in a business forum planned for Tashkent in 2026, a delegation from Uzbekistan at the FoodAg-2026 exhibition in Karachi, and regular flights by Pakistani airlines to Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara.
Cooperation between the two countries’ central banks, wider trade and economic ties, and joint investment projects were also on the agenda.
No launch date has been announced for the transit corridor.
