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Balkh commerce department to establish permanent carpet expo
Balkh Industry and Commerce Department officials say they are working on establishing a permanent carpet expo in the province in order to attract domestic and global trade.
Nasir Ahmad Niazi, Deputy Financial Commissioner of Industry and Commerce, said Sunday that efforts are underway with the Carpet Manufacturers Union to create a permanent carpet expo.
“We should have a market that is a permanent expo for carpets, and we started to establish a carpet expo,”
“The work of this expo has progressed 70% and we have chosen its location,” said Niazi.
The officials of the Carpet Manufacturers Union in the north of Afghanistan meanwhile said that compared to last year, carpet production has increased by 25 percent.
“Carpet production has increased by 25 percent since the Islamic Emirate’s takeover,” said Mohammad Anwar Rahimi, head of the carpet union.
According to him, a sizeable amount of these hand-woven carpets are smuggled to neighboring countries and then sold to world markets under the name of those countries.
On the other hand, some carpet sellers in Balkh province have expressed concern over the lack of a market for their products.
According to them, while carpet production has increased compared to last year, there is only a small domestic and foreign market.
Hand-woven carpets from the north of Afghanistan always had a good reputation, boasting unique colors and designs which appealed to a global market.
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Senior Indian diplomat meets FM Muttaqi in Kabul
Muttaqi expressed hope that relations between India and Afghanistan would expand in various fields. He stressed that to develop trade relations, Indian visa facilities should be increased for Afghan citizens, especially businesspersons.
JP Singh, Indian foreign ministry’s joint secretary for the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division, has met with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul.
The two sides discussed political and economic relations between Afghanistan and India, and people's movements, the Afghan foreign ministry said in a statement.
Muttaqi expressed hope that relations between India and Afghanistan would expand in various fields. He stressed that to develop trade relations, Indian visa facilities should be increased for Afghan citizens, especially businesspersons.
He also thanked India for its humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and called India's pledges in the development sector promising.
According to the statement, JP Singh said that relations with Afghanistan are important for India and have an ancient history.
The Indian diplomat said that along with humanitarian aid to Afghans, India has also started development assistance to Afghanistan and is engaged in technical discussions with relevant Afghan institutions. JP Singh stressed that the development of relations between the two countries is important, adding that in the near future, negotiations will be held between technical delegations of regional countries including Afghanistan and India on the Chabahar port. He also promised to increase Indian visa facilities for Afghans.
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IEA flatly rejects UN report on poppy cultivation increase in Afghanistan
The Ministry of Interior’s spokesman Abdul Matin Qane said on Wednesday the Islamic Emirate “completely” rejects the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report that poppy cultivation has increased by 19 percent this year, against 2023.
UNODC released its report on Wednesday, claiming opium cultivation rose by 19 percent despite a ban by the Islamic Emirate that almost eradicated the crop.
The 19 percent increase (12,800 hectares of poppies) year-on-year remains far below the 232,000 hectares cultivated when the IEA’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada banned the crop in April 2022.
Qane said in a statement the report is far from the truth.
"Since narcotics are a destructive phenomenon and forbidden from the perspective of the religion of Islam, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan based on the order of the leadership of the Emirate, has put the fight against this phenomenon as a priority.”
For years Afghanistan was the world's biggest supplier of opium and heroin.
Many farmers in Afghanistan were hit hard financially by the ban and have not been able to reap the same profits from alternative crops.
The Islamic Emirate has however repeatedly called for international support for farmers to transition to alternative crops and livelihoods.
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IEA hopes Trump govt will usher in new chapter between Kabul and Washington
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said late Wednesday in a statement that in the light of a balanced foreign policy, the ministry hopes that the future American government under newly elected president Donald Trump will take realistic steps to achieve its goals so that significant progress can be made in relations between Kabul and Washington.
Balkhi said it is hoped that both countries can open a new chapter of relations in light of mutual interaction.
He added that the Doha agreement between the Islamic Emirate and the United States was signed during the presidency of Donald Trump, and after that, the 20-year occupation ended in Afghanistan.
He stated IEA hopes that Trump may play a constructive role in ending the current war in the region and the world, especially in Gaza and Lebanon.
Donald Trump on Wednesday won the presidential election in the US after beating Kamala Harris.
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