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Indian dry fruit traders upset over partial resumption of Afghan banking system

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(Last Updated On: July 13, 2022)

Local dry fruit traders are concerned about the partial resumption of the banking system of Afghanistan since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) takeover in August last year.

Dry fruit traders said this week that only two weeks ago did Ghazanfar Bank in Kabul start accepting foreign transfers. Since August last year, traders have been forced to pay for goods by sending money via Gulf States, they said.

One Indian trader, BK Bajaj, said his counterparts in Afghanistan asked him to send some payments through Ghazanfar Bank but that the majority of payments continue to be routed through Gulf countries.

India imports around $500 million worth of dry fruit from Afghanistan every year.

Afghanistan’s banking system came to a virtual standstill in the wake of the fall of the previous government, and has only slowly resumed some services in recent months.

Indian traders said initially, Afghan dry fruit suppliers provided goods on credit until they were able to have money transferred to Gulf countries.

Afghanistan’s banking system took a beating following the take over by the IEA, when the international community immediately applied sanctions on the country. Countries like the US and EU and institutions like the IMF and World Bank stopped any financial engagement in the country, which severely limited the amount of foreign dollars entering the country.

Most notably, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York froze some $9 billion of the country’s total $10.5 billion in assets of the country’s federal reserve. This has had a severe impact on the country and cut foreign trade considerably.

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Azizi calls on Malaysian investors to invest in Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: April 24, 2024)

Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, met with representatives from the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and interior of Malaysia, along with other senior officials, on Wednesday and called on Malaysians to invest in Afghanistan.

The visiting delegation is being led by senior diplomat Dr. Shazelina Zainul Abidin.

According to the IEA’s foreign ministry, the two sides discussed bilateral trade, holding a business communication conference to strengthen trade relations between the two countries, the trade balance between Afghanistan and Malaysia, and creating a market for Afghan products, including carpets, cotton, and minerals.

According to the ministry, at the end of the meeting, the Acting Minister emphasized the increase of investment from regional countries in Afghanistan and called on Malaysian investors to also invest in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan starts exporting via railway to Turkey

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(Last Updated On: April 22, 2024)

The Ministry of Interior says that Afghanistan has started exporting goods to Turkey via the Herat-Khaf railway line.

In a post on X, the ministry said: “Afghanistan’s exports to Turkey started in a calm atmosphere through the Herat-Khaf railway line.”

The ministry added that one train will run daily for a month and then two trains will run daily.

According to the ministry, the security of Khaf-Herat railway line is provided by the guards of the National Public Protection Agency.

Khaf-Herat railway project not only connects Iran and Afghanistan by rail, but also completes a 2,000-kilometer route along the east-west rail corridor from China, through Uzbekistan, to Afghanistan, to Iran, and on to Turkey and Europe.

As a landlocked country, this railway network will provide a safe route to connect with Europe via Iran’s railway network and Iran’s southern ports.

This railway line is strategic for trade between Iran and Afghanistan and will allow six million tons of goods to be sent between the two countries.

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Afghanistan, Kazakhstan to hold joint expo in Kabul

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(Last Updated On: April 21, 2024)

A joint expo between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan will be held in Kabul in the next four days, officials said on Sunday.

Officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the two-day expo will be held for the purpose of expanding and strengthening trade relations between the two countries.

“This expo will be held as a follow-up of the Kazakh-Afghan international expo, which was held in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, with the participation of a large delegation of the government and the private sector of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Abdulsalam Javad Akhundzadeh, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said.
“At this expo, domestic products from different sectors of Afghanistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan will be put on display for two days.”

According to officials, 40 large Kazakh companies, and 40 large Afghan companies will exhibit their products.

Mohammad Saber Latifi, head of the Afghanistan International Expo Center, said that fruits, minerals and commercial services will be displayed at the expo.

During the expo, various memorandums of understanding for the trade of goods are also expected to be signed by companies.

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