Afghanistan Dispatches Eight Export Shipments via Lapis Lazuli Route to Global Markets
Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation announced the transfer of eight commercial shipments via Torghundi port and the Lapis Lazuli corridor to Turkey and onward to Saudi Arabia, the United States, Australia and the Netherlands.
The shipments include dried fruits, jam, pressure cookers and energy drinks. A transport company will move them on Sunday, 24 Hoot, through Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the ministry stated. It emphasized priorities including developing transit corridors, supporting exports and imports, and aiding international transport companies.
In Herat province, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with the Islamic Development Bank, opened the largest carpet weaving center in western Afghanistan. Inaugurated by Indrika Ratwatte, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and local elders, it initially provides jobs and skills training for 400 returnees from Iran, more than three-quarters of them women.
UNHCR noted that over 2 million Afghans returned from Iran last year and said the center aims to empower returnees and host communities through sustainable livelihoods, particularly for women.
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ratified a preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan by decree. Signed June 10, 2025, at the Tashkent International Investment Forum by Afghan Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi and Uzbekistan's Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, it eliminates tariffs on 14 goods categories and simplifies phytosanitary permits for Afghan agricultural products.
In February 2026, Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev and Azizi discussed implementation, with a joint trade forum planned in Kabul after Ramadan.
Russian media, quoting Rustam Habibullin, head of Russia's trade center in Afghanistan, reported that Afghanistan sent its first 100-ton apple shipment to Russia amid Iran's temporary food export ban, announced Tuesday for domestic security during its war with the US and Israel. More fruit and vegetable shipments are planned as Russian demand grows.
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