Via Geopolitics in South Asia and MENA, a report on new trade agreements between Iran and Afghanistan:

During the visit of the head of the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Afghan desk to Afghanistan, important agreements were made for the development of trade relations between the two countries, the TPO portal reported.

Hamidreza Karbalaie Esmaili’s visit to Afghanistan was aimed at improving trade relations between the two neighbors in the fields of technical and engineering services, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, petrochemical products, food industry, etc.

During the visit, Esmaili met and held talks with the economic, commercial, and medical officials of the country, including the acting minister of public health, first deputy of the chamber of commerce and investment, director general of Afghanistan customs, deputy and senior advisor to the acting minister of trade, consul general of Iran in Herat, border guard commissioner, and director general of Dogharoun customs.

Following the talks, the two sides reached initial agreements for completing several infrastructure projects and decided to begin negotiations on a preferential trade agreement and expanding customs cooperation.

During the talks, the parties prepared a list of 10 commodity items for the implementation of the first phase of the preferential trade agreement. The number of items will be increased in the near future.

Also, agreements were made regarding the formation of a joint industrial zone at the two countries’ border, with energy infrastructure being supplied by Iran and the investment for establishing the zone being provided by Afghan businessmen in collaboration with the Iranian private sector.

The Afghan side also announced its readiness to open a transit route from Pakistan to Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province via the Taftan-Chaman-Islam Qala-Mashhad route, which will reduce the route between the two countries from 1,500 to less than 1,000 kilometers.

Acceptance of elite Afghan students in various medical and non-medical fields in Iranian universities and bilateral cooperation regarding the specialized training of Afghan medical staff by sending Iranian professors to Afghanistan were among other subjects that the parties agreed upon.