Exports to 5 Central Asian states fall 4.1pc in FY26

Dawn reported that Pakistan's exports to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan declined 4.10 per cent in FY26 compared with a year earlier. Total bilateral trade with the five Central Asian Republics contracted far more sharply, by 50.62 per cent, to $219.125 million. The sharpest drop came from imports, which plunged 88.35 per cent to $28.547 million.

The report tied the weaker flows to shut border trading points with Afghanistan and to overland routes, though it presented this cause as apparent rather than certain. Exports held up better, slipping to $190.578 million from $198.722 million. The transit pact between Pakistan and Uzbekistan is already in force, and Uzbekistan has started importing goods under it.

By country, Kazakhstan remained Pakistan's largest trading partner among the five, with trade of $104.313 million, though that was 54.22 per cent lower than in FY25. Tajikistan posted the steepest overall fall at 69.56 per cent, while Kyrgyzstan was the only country where total trade rose, by 6.66 per cent.