The thought of Afghan traders shaking a leg at music concerts held in the Uzbek border town of Termez appears to be causing nightmares for the ruling Taliban in Kabul.

Officials of Afghanistan’s Islamic fundamentalist Taliban administration have warned Uzbekistan that the music needs to stop in the city’s new Airitom Free Economic Zone (FEZ), or Afghans will be banned from travelling to the special territory.

As things stand, Afghan citizens gain 15-day visa-free access to Airitom, a 36-hectare tax-free zone located not far from “Freedom Bridge”, which spans the waters of the Amu-Darya river that forms the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

If the Taliban’s concerns over the musical performances breaching their “morality laws” cannot be resolved, the future of the Airitom FEZ could be imperilled.

Built at a cost of $70mn by private holding Afka, owned by Jahongir Artikkhodjayev, a business tycoon and former mayor of Tashkent, it boasts four large blocks where retailers can trade, a hospital and even a Hilton hotel.

In late August, the Taliban introduced codified morality laws for their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Regulations include a prohibition on playing music in vehicles, restrictions on transporting women travelling without male guardians and a ban on media outlets publishing images of living beings.

Airitom is reportedly expected to generate $1.2bn in trade and attract 1.5mn visitors a year once it is fully functional. “We’re not fantasising. We believe this is realistic because we have studied the neighbouring country and others around us, surveyed businesses, and discussed our vision with Afghan leaders,” Bakhtiyor Rahimov, the zone’s manager, was quoted as saying in a report published by VOA in mid-September.

In Central Asia, Uzbekistan is at the forefront of efforts to build up good relations, trade and economic cooperation with the Taliban, despite their administration still having no recognition around the world, including from the five Central Asian countries.

However, difficulties such as the Taliban’s plan to divert major volumes of water from the Amu Darya border river to a new canal, the Qosh Tepa, being built to provide irrigation waters to Afghan farmers, are complicating relations. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan   in particular fear the operation of the canal will cause them water shortages.