Business
‘Digital Silk Road’ on track as Afghanistan and Turkmenistan connect
Thursday marked another milestone in Afghanistan’s modern history when President Ashraf Ghani inaugurated the new fiber optic connection between Turkmenistan and the commercial port of Aqina in Afghanistan’s Faryab province.
Within four months of having signed the memorandum of understanding with government the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) had successfully completed the task of connecting the two neighboring countries.
In a virtual address at the launch, Dr Ehsan Bayat, the founder and chairman of AWCC, said he was “delighted” to celebrate the company’s success in connecting Afghanistan with its friends in Turkmenistan – especially given the past year that has involved unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic, which also impacted people’s ability to connect with each other across the globe.
“When Afghan Wireless embarked on the journey to build Afghanistan’s largest nationwide fiber network, we did so with the goal of realizing President Ghani’s vision to transform the country into a hub of digital data connectivity for Central Asia.
“Today marks an important milestone in the building of a digital silk road across the region with Afghanistan at its center; a road that will connect millions of Afghans to the digital economy.
He said the latest optical fiber connection, between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, is the country’s fifth and sixth international border connections. Others include Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan.
“From Mazar to Jalalabad, and from Kabul to Kandahar to Kunduz, communities across the country are benefiting from high-speed connectivity. And now our connection to Turkmenistan through Torghundi and Aqina will enable Herat and western cities to become Afghanistan’s next major bridge for digital transformation,” he said.
However, Bayat stated that the impact of AWCC’s project should not be measured in kilometers of fiber laid, or megabytes of data transmitted, or even money invested but instead, it should be measured by the industries revitalized, the local businesses boosted, the jobs created, the pace of economic development and the enhancement to critical services in health, education, commerce and finance.
“This project could not be delivered without Afghanistan and Turkmenistan working together.
“Afghan Wireless’ optical fiber connection between the two countries that we are celebrating today is a powerful testament that when we work hand in hand with our neighbors, not only do we strengthen our countries individually, but we also strengthen our region together,” he said.
The Turkmenistan to Aqina cable has the capacity to transfer 2,500 megabits of the Internet and can therefore provide high quality and cheap Internet to Faryab province.
According to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, a fiber-optic network is the result of the rapid development of telecommunications and information technology, which has become an integral part of modern life.
The ministry states that along with the progression of technology and innovation, the shape and quality of tools have also changed to a great extent.
At the beginning of the invention of the telephone, copper cables were used to transmit information and sound, but today, with the advancement of technology and increasing human needs, these cables have been replaced by a new generation of signal conductors or fiber optics.
Because of the need for fast and cheap digital connectivity in the country, Government has already connected a total of 25 provinces in the country with the national fiber-optic network.
Business
Iran’s non-oil export to Afghanistan up 31% in 10 months
Iran exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.9 billon to Afghanistan between March 20 last year and January 19 this year.
The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Afghanistan increased by 31 percent in the first ten months of the Persian calendar against the same period last year, Tehran officials confirmed.
The Tehran Times reported that Iran exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.9 billon to Afghanistan between March 20 last year and January 19 this year.
The spokesperson for the Trade Development Committee of the House of Industry, Mining, and Trade, Ruhollah Latifi, said Afghanistan was the fourth top export destination of Iranian products among Iran’s neighbors in the mentioned ten months.
In a meeting with an Iranian trade delegation in Kabul last August, Afghanistan’s interim Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund said that his country is eager to attract Iranian investors in order to develop the Afghan mining industry, generate solar electricity and expand railway connectivity.
The Iranian delegation also proposed to launch a joint special industrial zone with Afghanistan.
Noting that Afghanistan has turned into a good place for making investment, Baradar said that the relevant ministries and organizations will cooperate and work closely with investors.
The Iranian delegation, made up of economic and trade players, also held a separate meeting with Afghanistan’s acting minister of commerce Haji Nooruddin Azizi. They called for the formation of a joint economic-mining zone between the two neighboring countries.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says it has signed memoranda of understanding worth over $12 million with 15 organizations to support and develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
During the signing ceremony, ministry officials emphasized that project implementation must prioritize support for individuals genuinely engaged in economic activities.
The ministry stated that 7,673 people in Kabul, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Balkh, Kandahar, Logar, Kunduz, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Badghis, Faryab, Jowzjan, Nangarhar, Takhar, and Bamyan provinces will benefit from these initiatives.
The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada said, “These 15 organizations will execute developmental, skill-building, and educational projects valued at $12,475,406, focusing on entrepreneurship training, carpet industry development, jewelry, and handicrafts.”
Private sector representatives welcomed the move, stating that supporting SMEs will positively impact Afghanistan’s economic and developmental activities.
They added that consistent investment in the carpet industry could curb widespread unemployment and play a pivotal role in rural economic development.
Private sector members further noted that small businesses fulfill essential livelihood needs for communities and will contribute to training professional and technical personnel, as well as fostering growth in large-scale industries.
Uzbekistan is set to open a trade center in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which will provide Uzbek entrepreneurs with a platform to market their goods in Afghanistan.
According to Trend news agency, the center will cover an area of 220 square meters and will also be used to find new trading partners between Afghan and Uzbek entrepreneurs and expand export opportunities.
The center will house permanent showrooms and warehouses for pharmaceuticals, electrical goods, and construction materials.
Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan reached $153.7 million in January 2025. This is 231 percent more compared to the same period last year ($46.3 million in January 2024).
Last week the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said Uzbekistan and Afghanistan plan to increase the trade turnover to $3 billion.
The current state and future prospects of bilateral trade and economic relations were discussed on Saturday during a meeting between Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov, and Afghan Trade Minister Nuruddin Azizi, who was visiting the Termez International Trade Center in the Surkhandarya region, the ministry said in a statement.
The latest trade house development comes amid concerted efforts by both countries to boost their cross-border trade relations.
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