KABUL (SW) – The Islamic Emirate authorities have vowed to expedite trade ties between Afghanistan and Iran.
Akhundzada Abdulsalam Javad, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, told Salam Watandar that Afghanistan’s bilateral trade volume with the Republic of Iran reaches two billion dollars annually. “… by bringing more facilities, we can increase our trade with Iran to 10 billion dollars. In his visit to Iran, the Minister of Industry and Trade discussed with the officials of this country about bringing ease in the trade and transit sector and requested to speed up the work.”
Likewise, Zia Ahmad Takal, Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said that Iran has promised its all-round support for Afghanistan’s agricultural products during the meeting between officials of the Ministry and the Iranian delegation. “Iran’s ambassador said that his country is ready to buy Afghan products and fruits at a good price and to have any kind of cooperation with Afghan businessmen in the field of agriculture.”
Meanwhile, Khanjan Alkozi, the deputy of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, says that the fruits produced in Afghanistan cannot find a place in Iran’s markets because these fruits also exist in Iran.
He adds: “If we invest in the mining sector, we can send minerals and raw materials to Iran, or if we invest in electricity, agriculture and irrigation, our exports will increase. We can still import from Iran because we have a consumption market of six billion dollars a year and we can bring most of the materials from Iran, especially fuel. It is good to build a system, especially in the area of mining and agriculture development”.
Economic experts consider the effectiveness of increasing trade exchanges with Iran for Afghanistan to be dependent on the appointment of expert and experienced people in the trade sector.
Amina Hashemi, expert on economic issues, said to implement these programs, Afghanistan needs experts who have the necessary knowledge, experience about policy in this regard. “They should also understand how to use these trade relations for the benefit of Afghanistan in order to increase the amount of provisions that remain in Afghanistan.”
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