Page 7 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine October 2024

bne October 2024 Companies & Markets I 7
The new Uzbek-Afghan free economic zone on the border promotes better ties with the Taliban
Emma Collet in Termez
Uzbekistan is once again asserting itself as one of the most active countries in Central Asia in its pragmatic rapprochement with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
To minimise the risks posed by the unpredictable Islamist regime, which has been on the doorstep of its borders for three years now, Tashkent has just completed the construction of a sparkling new shopping centre, accessible from both sides of the border via visa-free access for Afghan and Uzbek traders.
Those from Afghanistan will travel a few kilometres along a ‘green corridor’, braving the recurrent little sandstorms on the Uzbek-Afghan border, that will take them directly to the “Airitom free zone”, where they can stay for 15 days without a visa and enjoy tax-free trading. The 36 hectares place is located on the Uzbek side of the ‘Freedom Bridge’, spanning the muddy waters of the Amu-Darya that separates the two countries -- the same bridge retreating Soviet troops used in 1989 after their defeat in the Afghan war.
The Airitom zone, named after one of the districts of Termez, the regional capital of the southern Surkhandaryo region, which is closest to the Afghan border, was inaugurated on August 29, in the presence of Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov. He invited a Taliban delegation, as well as ministers and diplomats from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, showing that the zone represents a new step towards another act of normalising the Taliban in Central Asia, with Uzbekistan taking the lead.
“The project has already been in the pipeline since 2020. When the Taliban came to power we had to continue discussions with them. It went rather well,” explains Kodis Parpiyev, the manager of the commercial complex.
On August 18, the Uzbek prime minister even went so far as
to travel to Kabul to meet his Taliban counterpart and sign
a number of commercial and investment contracts worth $2.5bn, becoming the first head of government in the world to visit the Afghan capital. However, this first visit did not come as much of a surprise on the international stage. Relations between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan go back a long way, developing as soon as President Shavkat Mirziyoyev came to power in 2016, when he made opening up Afghanistan a top priority, turning the page on the quarter-century of economic and diplomatic autarky under President Islam Karimov.
Since the Taliban's return to power three years ago, President Mirziyoyev has stressed that instability in Afghanistan is the
main security risk in Central Asia. Uzbekistan has taken the initiative to improve relations between the two countries, which are separated by a short stretch of border some 137 km to the south, near the regional capital Termez.
Between the two ultra-militarised border checkpoints, where queues of goods lorries line up on the Uzbek side to reach Afghan territory, now lies this massive tax-free economic zone, an architectural UFO with brand new buildings straight out of the ground. At a cost of $70mn, the Airitom complex was built by the private holding Afka, owned by Jahongir Artikkhodjayev, business tycoon and former mayor of Tashkent. The Uzbek government provided a $20mn credit line over five years to support its construction, which explains the presence of the state-of-the-art Afka medical hospital, and of several Afka subsidiary stores, omnipresent in the commercial space of the economic zone.
In addition to the hospital designed to attract Afghans seeking medical treatment – a crucial service given the dearth of modern healthcare facilities in Afghanistan, the complex includes a Hilton hotel and a luxury restaurant serving Turkish and Uzbek specialties. But most importantly, four large blocks are intended to house around 300 retailers, specialising in fresh produce, building materials and automotive products.
Some Uzbek citizens are already buying and negotiating stands to set up their business, sniffing out the good opportunity offered by the creation of this tax-free zone,
Uzbekistan has opened the $70mn Airitom free zone on the border with Afghanistan and promote trade and improve ties with its unstable neighbour. / bne IntelliNews
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