On June 20, the First round of the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan Public-Private dialogue (PPD) took place with EU financial and technical support. The event is held within the framework of "Advancing Afghan Trade" project financed by EU and implemented by International Trade Centre (ITC).

Ambassador Stiprais addressed the event opening together with Chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adkham Ikramov, Minister for Foreign Trade Djamshid Khodjaev and Khokim of Surkhandar'ya region Erkin Turdymov on Uzbek side. The Afghan side was represented by Special Envoy to President Ashraf Ghani on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries Mohammad Shakir Kargar and Chairman of Afghan Chamber of Commerce Haji Hossain Fahim.

Advancing Afghan Trade is an initiative by the European Union and the International Trade Centre (ITC), launched on 29 November 2016 as “Afghanistan: Trade for Economic Growth & Regional Cooperation” (ATEG). This project aims to lay the foundation for strengthening the country’s trade capacities and building a business-friendly environment, with a long-term goal of helping to transform Afghanistan and its regional partners into a vibrant regional economic hub.

Upon completion of the dialogue, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between delegations of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan setting the ground for further cooperation and dialogue in trade area. The dialogue also involved representatives of business from both Uzbeksitan and Afghanistan whom sought to address trade facilitation issues with Government representatives.

The working visit complements the recent visit to Uzbekistan on June 11-13, of EU Special Representative for Central Asia Mr Peter Burian and EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mr Roland Kobia.