Business
Afghanistan Sends First Set of Cargo Trucks to Europe via Lapis Lazuli Route
The first set of Afghanistan’s cargo trucks left for Europe through Lapis Lazuli route on Thursday.
The trucks will cross Torghondi port in Herat into Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and eventually will reach to Europe after crossing Georgia and Turkey.
Inaugurating the Lapis Lazuli corridor on Thursday in western Herat province, President Ghani said the route will connect Afghanistan to South Asia, Central Asia and to Europe.
At the inauguration ceremony of the corridor, high-ranking officials of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia were also present.
At the event, Hamid Tahmasi, Afghan Minister of Transport said that the Lapis Lazuli route will facilitate landlocked Afghanistan in exporting its commercial products to European markets and that will develop the Afghan economy.
He stressed that the corridor will reduce the trade gap between Afghanistan and Europe and that will decrease the cost of imports and exports in the country.
The Lapis Lazuli corridor agreement was signed on November last year by five nations in Turkmenistan marking an important milestone in the collective efforts towards deepening connectivity and enhancing trade in the region.
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.
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.
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.
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