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Afghan oil refinery consortium launched in Balkh province
This refinery will be built in four phases, over one to five years.
An oil refinery consortium, comprising five local companies, has been established in Balkh province with an investment so far of $87 million.
Speaking at a press conference in Balkh, consortium officials said that they had joined forces to ensure oil extracted in the country is refined locally, which in turn creates job opportunities.
“This refinery has been established with an investment of $400 million, of which $87 million has already been invested and the remaining $313 million will be invested,” said Abdul Rashid Salaar, technical officer for the consortium.
“This refinery will be built in four phases, over one to five years,” he added.
Consortium members have appealed to the Islamic Emirate to cooperate with them and to support the mining sector in the country.
One member said 1,100 tons of crude oil was extracted daily in Afghanistan but that the consortium would soon have the capacity to refine 4,300 tons a day.
“This consortium is for the self-sufficiency of the country in the oil and gas sector, and for job opportunities,” said another consortium member.
Growing foreign interest in the sector
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum last week reported that the country’s lucrative oil sector is generating growing interest from a number of countries in the region including Iran, Turkey, Russia and Uzbekistan.
According to officials, companies in these countries have shown serious interest in investing in the extraction and refinement processes.
The ministry has however called on Afghan investors to also take advantage of opportunities in the sector.
Afghanistan’s Crude Oil Refinery Union in turn urged the Islamic Emirate to support local investors in the extraction process but also by establishing refineries that meet international standards.
Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) officials meanwhile called on the ministry to also focus on increasing the operational capacity of established oil extraction companies and in building refineries instead of focusing on attracting foreign investors.
Muhammad Younus Mohmand, Vice-Chairman of the ACCI, said: “Our wish is that the refineries that people invest in, in Afghanistan, should be supported.”
According to union officials, over $300 million has already been invested in the sector in the country, providing jobs to thousands of workers.
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IEA delegation leaves Kabul for Qatar
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s (IEA) spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid heading a delegation left Kabul on Saturday to attend the third Doha meeting in Qatar, Mujahid said posting a picture on his X platform.
The third UN-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Sunday) in the Qatari capital Doha.
Special representatives of countries for Afghanistan are expected to attend the meeting.
Mujahid will lead IEA’s six-member delegation at the meeting. The delegation includes representatives of IEA’s political office in Qatar, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the counter-narcotics deputyship of the Interior Ministry and Da Afghanistan Bank.
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Afghanistan’s exports reach $304 million in first quarter of 1403: MoIC
Akhundzadeh said that most of these exports were made to Pakistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, India, Austria, Uzbekistan, Russia and other countries.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce spokesman Abdulsalam Javad Akhundzadeh says Afghanistan’s exports carried out regularly in the first three months of 1403 solar year and $304 million have been exported during this period.
Akhundzadeh said that most of these exports were made to Pakistan, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, India, Austria, Uzbekistan, Russia and other countries.
“Afghanistan’s exports and imports during the first quarter of 1403 solar year were about two billion and 577 million dollars, of which 304 million dollars were exports and 2.273 million dollars were imports,” he said.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector asked MoIC to provide more facilities in the field of transportation to increase the country’s exports.
“As much as the facilities are provided to the traders, they can take advantage of these good opportunities,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, deputy of the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock.
Economic experts believe that the more Afghan products are marketed in the world markets, the more exports will increase and will positively affect the country’s economic situation.
Earlier, the Islamic Emirate repeatedly emphasized that it has an economy-oriented policy and is trying to become a connecting point in the region in addition to increasing the export of Afghan goods to different countries.
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Afghanistan’s internal issues will not be raised at Doha meeting: Mujahid
He added that the third Doha meeting will discuss economic issues, narcotics and the achievements of the Islamic Emirate.
Women’s rights is an internal issue and it will not be raised at the upcoming international meeting on Afghanistan in Doha, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), said on Saturday.
Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul that the Islamic Emirate’s conditions for participation in the meeting had been accepted and its delegation would go to Doha to talk and resolve the problems.
He added that the third Doha meeting will discuss economic issues, narcotics and the achievements of the Islamic Emirate.
“Within the framework of the country’s national interests, we ask all countries not to leave the people of Afghanistan alone in these difficult circumstances, but to fulfill their obligations towards the rights of the Afghan people and to contribute to the reconstruction and economic strengthening of Afghanistan and to remove obstacles,” Mujahid said.
He also called on the countries participating in the Doha meeting to engage positively with the Islamic Emirate.
The third UN-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan is scheduled to begin tomorrow (Sunday) in the Qatari capital Doha.
Special representatives of countries on Afghanistan are expected to attend the meeting.
Zabihullah Mujahid will lead IEA’s six-member delegation at the meeting. The delegation includes representatives of IEA’s political office in Qatar, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, counter-narcotics deputyship of the Interior Ministry and Da Afghanistan Bank.
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