KABUL (SW): Nearly after 11 months of the opening of the first Afghan-Indian Air Corridor, a number of fresh fruit and vegetable exporters were dissatisfied for using Air Cargo to export their goods to India.
These exporters told Salam Watandar that they can export a low volume of fresh fruits and vegetables through Air Cargo which is not very profitable for them.
Mohammad Farooq Ahmadi and Haji Khawani, exporters of fresh fruits said that the export by road is more profitable for businesses.
Akhtar Mohammad Ahmadi, Chairman of Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Union said that exports through Air Corridor to India have not had a positive outcome so far.
According to Akhtar, if an airplane has a capacity of 40 tons, only 10 tons will be allocated to fresh fruit.
The Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said the opening of air corridors have encouraged exporters, however, fresh fruits have not been exported through Air Cargo a lot, therefore, the exporters of fresh fruits have not benefited much from the air corridors.
Khan Jan Alakozai, deputy director of ACCI said it has been impossible to export large quantities of fresh fruits by air. He added that land and sea routes are cheaper for export of fresh fruits and vegetables and a significant amount of fresh fruits and vegetables can be easily exported through sea and land routes and can be more profitable for the exporters in comparison to using the air cargo route.
The officials at the ACCI and a number of exporters of fresh fruits and vegetables said that exporting through Pakistan had been more profitable and suitable for them; hence they called on the government to resolve transit problems with Pakistan as soon as possible.
Musafir Quqandi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce and Industries said the opening of the air corridors have significantly benefited exporters in Afghanistan. He added that the air corridors have been created at the request of businessmen and exporters to increase exports of fruits and merchandise to other countries in the region. He also informed that to increase exports, all options were considered by the government.
According to Quqandi, nearly 2000 tons of fresh fruits have been exported to India and Kazakhstan by Air Cargo. However, officials at the ACCI said that over the past nine months, about 9,000 tons of fresh fruits have been exported to India through Waga port by sea.
The first air corridor between Kabul- Delhi was launched in June 2017 and the second air corridor between Kabul-Mumbai was opened in October 2017. After that, the air corridor between Kabul-Almaty Kazakhstan was launched and another air corridor between Kabul-Indonesia is planned to be opened soon.
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