Business
Freight trains to Afghanistan resume via Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif
Transportation of goods on the Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan resumed on Friday, officials announced, after a 10 day suspension.
Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) said that 50 wagons of commercial goods arrived at Haritaran port on Friday.
According to the spokesperson of ARA, Uzbek officials have agreed to hand over the management of the railway line of Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif to Afghanistan, during talks with the Afghan delegation in Uzbekistan.
“A technical committee consisting of two parties has been established to prepare a draft of a contract or memorandum of understanding,” Sami Durrani said.
Members of the private sector welcomed the resumption of transportation of commercial goods through the Haritaran-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line and asked the officials of ARA to make more efforts to keep the railways with neighboring countries operational.
“Using the railway can boost trade and business, and it is much cheaper than road transportation,” said Abdul Nasir Rashtiya, a member of the private sector.
Economic experts emphasize that suspending the operation of railways can have negative effects on the country’s economy.
“Railway has an extremely positive impact on the Afghan oil market. On the one hand, Russia will find a market, and the needs of Afghanistan will be met. In addition, we can set the prices at a very low level so that every Afghan can make good use of the reasonable price,” said Taj Mohammad Talash, an expert on economic affairs.
The Hairatan-Mazar-e-Sharif railway line is 75 km long and was built in 2010.
According to ARA, the management of technical affairs of the line should have been handed over by Uzbekistan to a Kazakh company by the end of January.
ARA’s head Bakht-ur-Rahman Sharaft, in an interview with Ariana News last week, accused Uzbekistan of violating their agreement and suggested that the main point of dispute between the sides is the number of Uzbek personnel to remain in the management of the railway.
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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