Business
ADB report states 70% of Afghan transit trade diverted through Iran
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a recent report that although Afghanistan has traditionally relied on Pakistan as a gateway to international shipping routes, recent trends indicate that 70 percent of Afghan transit trade is now diverted through Iran.
The ADB’s Corridor Performance Measurement and Monitoring (CPMM) Annual Report 2019, published this week, stated that Pakistan is still facing challenges in terms of removing barriers for road transport.
This shift away from Pakistan has been driven by lower costs from foreign ports and more attractive security deposit and detention tariffs for transit containers from shipping lines that operate at Iran’s seaports.
The report stated that in addition, diesel fuel in Iran ($0.06 per liter) is significantly less expensive than in Pakistan ($0.86 per liter), which provides an additional edge in terms of cost competitiveness.
Also, in the absence of a formal agreement with Pakistan, shippers and carriers face uncertainty in transit procedures, it added.
The report further stated that the CPMM trade facilitation indicator (TFIs) reported longer average border-crossing time, although relatively unchanged average border-crossing cost.
Total average transport cost showed an improvement, but both measures of speeds showed that trucks did not move as fast compared to 2018. The average border-crossing time between Afghanistan and Pakistan increased to 38.2 hours.
The time to cross Chaman was 60.1 hours, ranked as the most time-consuming border crossing point in 2019.
Peshawar took 45.8 hours and ranked the third most time-consuming, the report stated.
These samples were estimated from commercial shipments carrying goods destined for Afghanistan as well as Central Asia.
Following the approval of its National Transport Policy in 2018, Pakistan embarked on a series of reforms and initiatives to address structural inefficiencies and impediments, to increase exports through lowering cost and lead time of transportation.
The report recommended the implementation of the national single-window system and port community system (PCS) to reduce cargo dwell time in seaports.
It said better parking area design and queuing systems could improve efficiency and speed up border crossing.
Pakistan does not yet have a domestic regulation on the international carriage of goods on road, which is a fundamental condition to implement the Carriage of Goods by Road (CMR).
The report also stated that greater adoption of freight on rail and inland waterways would reduce freight costs and boost low-unit value exports such as agricultural produce.
Afghanistan and Pakistan have however reactivated talks on the Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement 2010, which aims to attract transit from Central Asia to seaports south of Pakistan, the report stated.
Business
Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
Business
Afghanistan-Kazakhstan chamber of commerce opens in Herat
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
Business
Afghanistan reaches self-sufficiency in production of 133 items: MoIC
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says Afghanistan has reached self-sufficiency in 45 sectors and the production of 133 items, and that the ministry is striving to change Afghanistan from an importing country to an exporting one.
The ministry officials said that for this purpose, supporting domestic products and attracting investment is essential.
The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada emphasized increasing the use of domestic goods and products in government and national projects and added that efforts have also begun to find a market for domestic products inside and outside the country.
“We have reached self-sufficiency in 133 items of production, which is 45 sectors, and also we reached the capacity of semi-self-sufficiency in 95 items of production, which is 27 sectors,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) says over the past two and a half years, more attention has been paid to the development of domestic production and it is also expanding.
The chamber officials stressed expanding the culture of using domestic products in government projects.
“I think that the government is one of the biggest consumers in the market if it uses domestic products in all its development projects,” said Abdul Nasir Rashtia, a member of ACIM.
Economic experts also said that if the use of domestic products in government projects increases, Afghanistan will quickly move towards economic independence.
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