The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) says Uzbekistan investors are interested in investing in coal mining in Afghanistan.

The ministry officials said that these investors intend to export coal from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan.

They added that the talks with Uzbekistan are ongoing and progress has been made in this field in the early stages.

However, they have stated that they have not yet reached the point of agreement.

Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) officials also stated that there are capacities in the area of economic activities and development of joint investment with Uzbekistan and all Central Asian countries.

According to them, practical use of these capacities should be started.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum added that the Islamic Emirate has stopped the illegal mining of coal, and mining is carried out legally all over the country based on the permit of large companies.

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The Ministry of Commerce and Industry says the acting minister has ordered the installation of scanners at the country’s border crossings that deal with imports and exports.

According to a newsletter published by the ministry, the issue was discussed at the first meeting of the leadership committee of the private sector support fund.

Nooruddin Azizi, the acting minister of commerce and industry, said at the meeting that the scanners need to be purchased and installed at land ports to facilitate the import and export of goods.

In this meeting, there was a discussion about the financing mechanism and ways to spend the private sector support fund. Issues around collecting customs fees for imports and exports were also discussed as was the need to open a bank account for the fund.

A decision was also taken to introduce permanent members of the support fund to the leadership committee.

In conclusion, the ministry stated that the financing mechanism and the method of spending of the private sector support fund have been finalized.

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A group of South Africans met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, in Kabul on Monday to discuss the possibility of investing in Afghanistan’s mining sector.

According to Baradar’s office, the group is keen to invest in the extraction and processing of minerals.

Among the delegation were health sector experts who also stated they would be willing to work with the ministry of public health in Afghanistan to establish a well-equipped hospital.

Baradar assured the delegation of the Islamic Emirate’s full cooperation in both mining and health sectors.

Russian investors

In a separate meeting, Russian investors held talks with Afghanistan’s acting minister of mines and petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar on the Balkhab Copper Mine in Sar-e-Pul and Balkh provinces.

The ministry said in a statement that the Russian investors had been impressed at the opportunities available and had been especially interested in the Balkhab Copper Mine.

Russia is one of the world’s leading mineral industries and is among the leading world producers of a vast range of mineral commodities, including aluminum, cement, copper, magnesium compounds and metals, gas, and oil among others.

In 2019, the country was the second worldwide producer of platinum, vanadium and cobalt. It also has huge reserves of gold, silver and uranium.

South Africa meanwhile has a vast mining industry and is most well-known for its gold, diamonds, platinum and coal resources and the mining industry is a primary economic contributor.

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