Business
IEA seeks to expand economic ties with Central Asian countries
Ministry of Industry and Commerce officials said on Wednesday they will increase efforts to expand economic relations with Central Asian countries in the coming year.
According to officials, Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan are interested in expanding economic relations with Afghanistan.
Last week, Kazakhstan’s minister of trade visited Kabul and discussed the issue of expanding trade ties with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
“The two sides discussed increasing the level of trade between the two countries to $3 billion, building transportation infrastructure, railways, regional connectivity and investing in Afghanistan’s mineral resources,” Abdulsalam Jawad, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said.
Economic experts said that if Afghanistan can strengthen economic relations with Central Asian countries, it will have a positive effect on the economic situation of Afghanistan and the region.
“The more our economic relations with Central Asia expand, the more it will help Afghanistan’s economy and trade. Both Afghanistan and Central Asia will gain greatly. The Islamic Emirate should pay attention to this and if our relations with them expand, it will benefit Afghanistan,” Abdul Jabbar Safi, head of the Union of Industrialists, said.
Experts believe that Afghanistan can connect Central Asia to South Asia, and it plays an important role in expanding trade relations in the region.
“I think Afghanistan should start economic development from Central Asian countries, countries that have rich resources and will help Afghanistan’s economic system,” said Taj Mohammad Talash, an economic expert.
Officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the expansion of cooperation in the fields of agriculture, mining, energy production and railway construction in Afghanistan will directly provide employment to thousands of citizens in the country.
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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