Business
Pakistani goods transported to Central Asia without any problems: Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce said on Saturday that Pakistani goods are transported to Central Asian countries through Afghanistan without any problems.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said that Afghanistan offers immense opportunities in terms of realisation of Pakistan’s vision to becoming a trade and energy connectivity hub and integration of South, Central, and Western Asia.
However, she said the current political situation coupled with the threat of terrorism poses a challenge for the region. She said that the full potential of Pakistan’s relationship with the Central Asian Republics is largely unexplored due to the situation in Afghanistan.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of the Islamic Emirate, however, says that Pakistan’s goods are transported to Central Asian countries without any problems through Afghanistan.
“Countries that want to transit through Afghanistan should not worry at all. Any country that says there is insecurity in Afghanistan, we reject it completely. We assure the neighboring countries that we have secured the roads and there is no problem,” Abdulsalam Akhundzada said.
Investors also say that Afghanistan has played its transit role in the region to meet the economic needs of Central and South Asian countries.
“We have always had exports to Pakistan. Our goods, our fruits, our vegetables have been perished, but no one has so far said that the goods of the Pakistani businessmen have been stopped or damaged on the way to Afghanistan,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, an investor.
Economic experts also say that considering the current economic situation in Afghanistan and the region, Kabul can play an important role in the economic relations of the countries and get huge profits from it.
“I think that since the establishment of the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan, there has been tremendous progress in the security sector,” says Taj Mohammad Talash, an expert on economic affairs. “Afghanistan is ready for regional connectivity.”
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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