Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy economic minister, has called on Russia to cooperate with Afghanistan in the construction of the second Salang Tunnel. He made the request at the Afghanistan-Russia trade forum held on the sidelines of the Kazan Economic Forum.
Baradar pointed to Russia’s experience in building the first Salang Tunnel during the reign of Dawood Khan and stressed the importance of the project for trade development with Russia and Central Asia.
He said the Taliban had begun reconstruction of the current tunnel and the construction of a second tunnel was also planned.
According to the Taliban’s deputy economic minister, several infrastructure and commercial projects have been launched in Afghanistan, aimed at facilitating exports to the region and beyond. He also called for Afghanistan’s participation in the North-South Corridor and the Afghan-Trans project.
At the meeting, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk supported stability and development in Afghanistan and said Russian companies were ready to cooperate in mining, dam construction, electricity, railways and transportation. He announced the signing of an agreement to establish a joint trade center between Kabul and Moscow.
The deputy prime minister of Tatarstan also announced that the republic’s automobile companies are ready to cooperate with Afghanistan and Tatarstan has announced its readiness to sign an intergovernmental cooperation agreement.
According to the Taliban’s economic deputy, important trade agreements will be signed on the sidelines of the meeting.
