KABUL (SW) – Once thriving with local and foreign buyers, Kabul’s antique alley, which is many years old and is one of the largest centers for buying and selling ornaments and antiques, is now in recession.
A number of sellers of ornaments and handicrafts in the ‘Kocha Antique Faroshi’ or antique alley say that with the emergence of the Islamic Emirate, they have no visitors and their market is stagnating. According to them, most of the visitors and buyers of this market were foreigners, and now with the closure of many embassies in the country, no foreign visitors enter their market.
“Right now, the trade in Kocha Antique Faroshi’ is a zero sum game, there is neither buying or selling going on here,” said Abdul Jabbar Nazari, a local trader. “After the Islamic Emirate came into force, we have no buyers, because flights are closed, foreigners do not come, tourists do not come.”
“The market is much worse now,” said Ahmed Navid, another seller of antiques on the street.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Akbar Samandari, deputy head of the traders’ union on this , says that if embassies are not reopened and foreigners do not come to back, the place would vanish. “If embassies are reopened, this alley will flourish again, and if they are not reopened, little by little, the industries in Afghanistan will slowly disappear,” he added.
However, Ehsanullah Pazir, head of program planning at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told Salam Watandar that they are in contact with various countries to allow traders and industrialists to participate in international fairs.
Handicrafts, antiques, precious stones, artifacts, antique dishes and jewelry are some of the items sold in the antique alley.
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