Page 8 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine October 2024

8 I Companies & Markets bne October 2024
which aims to attract buyers not just from Afghanistan but from all the countries in the region. Bismallah Yusufi, a Termez resident of Afghan origin, has already set up a branch of his lighting shop in one of the malls. He rents the 100-square metre space for $1,000 a month. “For the moment, business isn't good because the Afghans haven't arrived yet,” he says.
“The businessmen who are flocking to the new economic zone are mainly Uzbeks of Afghan origin”
Indeed, the huge trade and exchange zone looks like a ghost town, as in mid-September the Taliban had not yet authorised Afghan traders to cross the green corridor into the economic zone. “It's only a matter of weeks now,” says a slightly distraught Kodis Paripyev. The zone is designed to generate $1.4mn in monthly trade, according to the complex's director, who is fairly optimistic about its potential, and to attract more than 1.5mn people a year.
For $80,000, Mukhamad Oqsoqol, a Termez businessman, bought a site on the corner of one of the large commercial blocks. “For the moment, I don't really know what I'm going to sell, because the list of products isn't clear yet,” explains the entrepreneur, who runs several shops selling manufactured goods in Termez. According to the authorities, this information should be released in October, possibly.
The businessmen who are flocking to the new economic zone are mainly Uzbeks of Afghan origin. The town of Termez is home to a large diaspora of Afghans, most of whom settled here in the 1990s after the Taliban first took power in Afghanistan and have since been joined by a few dozen compatriots who fled the Taliban in 2021. “There are 400 Afghan companies in Termez,” says Otabek Tursunov, Termez hokimyat’s (mayorial) deputy. “Most of them are very involved in trade with Afghanistan,” he adds.
Many of them are then looking favourably on the brand new commercial centre at the border, according to several representatives of the Afghan diaspora in Termez. The modernity of the economic zone, just a few hundred metres from an Afghanistan ravaged by an unprecedented economic and social crisis, is impressive and illustrates Tashkent's efforts to adapt to the challenges posed by its underdeveloped, Islamist-ruled neighbour.
On the floor of one of the shopping malls a university has also been created and is ready to welcome 200 Afghan students per term, who will be housed and fed on the premises of the business complex. A subsidiary of Central Asia University, the courses will be taught in English and Pashto, and will cover the basics of business. However, only men will be allowed
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to attend, reflecting the restrictions imposed on women's education under the Taliban regime.
The free trade zone is expected to employ around 3,000 people, with a third of the jobs reserved for Afghans. To make things easier, a bus service between Mazar-e-Sharif and the free zone is being prepared so as to provide daily transport for Afghan workers.
“Afghans who want to set up their business here will have access to subsidies,” explains Kodis Papriyev. But as well as Uzbek companies and a few Afghan brands, international groups have also been invited. On the site, we can already see a Russian truck stand in front of one of the malls. “In addition to the Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians have already shown interest in buying a stand. But it's mainly the Chinese who are the most interested,” explains Kodis Parpiyev.
There is no doubt that the new economic zone will give a further boost to cross-border trade, which has continued to accelerate between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, despite the arrival of the Taliban. “Here, the ‘Friendship Bridge’ was only closed for three days, just long enough to clear the bridge of the cars of Afghans who had fled the Islamist regime across the border with Afghanistan”, recalls Nodirbek Djalilov, director of the Termez Cargo Centre, a logistics centre for cross-border trade on the Uzbek-Afghan border. According to him, between 100 and 150 lorries cross the border every day on both sides, not counting the 500 to 1,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid sent daily by the UN, which continues to pass through Uzbekistan.
From Afghanistan, dried fruit and a few fizzy drinks cross the border, while from Uzbekistan, flour, wheat and above all fuel head south. 30% of the lorries go to Pakistan, a country that has the advantage of having global seaports for the countries of Central Asia.
“The new economic zone will create more competition in the goods trade,” concludes Nodirbek Djalilov. This can only bring positive things to business and to peace.”
“The modernity of the economic zone, just a few hundred metres from an Afghanistan ravaged by an unprecedented economic and social crisis, is impressive and illustrates Tashkent's efforts to adapt to the challenges posed by its underdeveloped, Islamist-ruled neighbour”