Business

Afghan Officials Find Precious Stones in Presidential Palace

Published

7 years ago

August 14, 2017

(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

An Afghan delegation including the Ministry of Mines Engineers and Presidency’s Preservation and Services departments have discovered a number of precious stones in one of the Presidential Palace’s rooms.

The President’s office said these stones were moved to the Presidential Palace for preservation after a rocket hit the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum in 1992.

Officials of Ministry of Mines, engineer Mirza and Muhammad Nabi Mutahari noted that the magnitude and quality of these stones are not precisely known, but they are of different types, including Azure, Granite, Agate, Amethyst, Braille, Microlite, Technical Tourmaline, Gray and other types.

The Presidential Palace said the stones will be preserved in ARG.

Afghanistan has been blessed with a great variety of precious and semi-precious stones with 73 records of mines, deposits, occurrences, and showings.

In fact, some of the earliest records of mining anywhere in the world are from Afghanistan, dating back over 6000 years.

By some estimates, the untapped gemstone deposits in this country are estimated to be worth $300 billion USD.

However, the geological surveying of the country has been less than 10% of the area! Precious minerals, oil, and gas have been estimated to be in the 1 trillion to 3 trillion USD ranges.

It’s no wonder why Afghanistan is quickly moving to try to mine and develop so many of these resources.

Business

Commerce ministry inks 10 MoUs to boost development of small and medium-sized businesses

Published

10 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 19, 2024)

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”

These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.

To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.

These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.

In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.

Business

Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 17, 2024)

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

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 15, 2024)

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.