Business
ACCI: Afghanistan export volume tops $1billion
Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said on Tuesday that domestic products worth more than $1billion have been exported in the current solar year.
ACCI officials said exports include pine nuts, grapes, figs, carpets and medicinal plants.
According to them, most of the products and produce were exported to Pakistan and India.
“The volume of our exports reached $1.1 billion in the current [solar] year. The export volume will increase if investments are made in the country,” said Khan Jan Alokozay, an ACCI member.
Businessmen meanwhile said that if the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) supports them, the total export volume and import volume will be the same.
“If we want to turn Afghanistan around, from an importer to an exporter, we need government support and facilitations,” said Baz Mohammad Ghairat, a member of the private sector.
Economists meanwhile said they doubted that $1 billion worth of goods had been exported so far this year (from April).
“We have the capacity to export. We can be self-sufficient if we work. I do not believe that we have had so much exports ($1billion),” said Taj Mohammad Talish, an economic analyst.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
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