Business
Businesses resume normal operations in Kabul amid lingering uncertainty, disruptions
Businesses have resumed normal operations in Kabul despite the lingering uncertainties and disruptions brought by economic and humanitarian crises.
Stores, restaurants and peddlers open their businesses early in the morning. A growing numbers of vehicles and pedestrians have been seen on the street days following the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA)'s removal of roadside blast walls and concrete barricades which had been erected across the city for years due to security concerns.
While some Kabul residents are hopeful for better lives, many store owners are still concerned about their businesses.
"The sale is not good because our business largely depends on foreigners. There used to be foreign companies and embassies in Afghanistan, but now they have left," said Naser, the owner of a wool fabric shop in Kabul.
Naser said local people's abilities to consume crafts is relatively low as most of them are still worried about food and clothing.
"The current sales volume is about half of what it used to be. I hope the business will grow better in the future as peaceful life arrives and security situation improves," said Khalid, the owner of a local lapis lazuli jewelry store.
After the IEA's takeover in mid-August, the Afghan economy has suffered from the U.S. freezing of over nine billion dollars in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank as well as a halt in funds by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
In his open letter to urge the U.S. to unfreeze the assets, acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghans will face greater difficulties and the country will become a source of mass migration in the region and the world if there's no change in the current situation.
Business
Iran’s non-oil exports to Afghanistan rise by 31% this solar year
Iran’s imports from Afghanistan also rose sharply, totalling over $33 million, a 192% increase in this period
Iran's non-oil exports to Afghanistan surged by 31% in the first half of this solar year (April to September 2024), totalling over $1.77 billion.
According to Iran’s trade association in Afghanistan, both the value and volume of non-oil exports to Afghanistan saw substantial growth.
Statistics provided by the association indicate that nearly 560,000 tons of Iranian goods, including iron, steel, cement, eggs, and potatoes, were exported to Afghanistan during this period.
Iran’s imports from Afghanistan also rose sharply, totalling over $33 million, a 192% increase in this period.
The primary exports to Iran included barley, corn, peanuts, and chilies.
Business
Private sectors of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan sign contracts worth $100 million
Private sectors of Afghanistan and Kazakhstan have signed contracts worth $100 million during the visit of an Afghan delegation to Almaty recently, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) announced on Thursday.
The agreements include the export of more than 2,000 tons of dried fruit, the export of fresh fruit, including pomegranates, and the export of cotton, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said on X.
Mujahid said that the Islamic Emirate delegation during its recent visit to Kazakhstan signed a "road map of cooperation between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan in the fields of trade, industry, mining, energy, logistics, agriculture, telecommunications, health, higher education and humanitarian aid.”
He said Kazakhstan also assured that it would provide more facilities for the transit of Afghan goods to China and other countries through Kazakhstan.
The allocation of an area "as a logistics center for Afghan goods" in the port of Khargos was also part of the agreement between the two sides to facilitate the unloading and loading of Afghan traders' goods.
The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate also said that Kazakhstan will participate in the construction of the Torghundi-Herat, Kandahar-Spin Boldak and Mazar-e-Sharif-Kharlachi railway projects.
Mujahid added that Kazakhstan will also participate in the establishment of a trade and transit center in Herat province, which will be used to store and finance trade and transit goods. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has agreed to establish permanent expo centers for the sale of Afghan goods in various cities of Kazakhstan.
It is worth mentioning that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate led by Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, participated in the three-day exhibition of Afghanistan's domestic products, which was launched on October 21 in Almaty.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce recently announced that 23 tons of pomegranates from Kandahar province were exported to Almaty through the port of Torghundi.
Business
China resumes direct rail trade with Afghanistan
China resumed its direct freight rail services to Afghanistan on Thursday when a train loaded with goods left Nantong city in Jiangsu province.
The train, carrying commercial goods in 55 wagons, is heading for the northern Hairatan border in Balkh province, Yue Xiaoyong, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Special Representative for Afghanistan, said in a post on X.
Nantong is a central hub of the Belt and Road Initiative and is located north of Shanghai.
The resumption of the rail line was marked at a formal ceremony on Thursday with Yue and Bilal Karimi, the Afghan Ambassador to China, in attendance.
This comes after China recently announced plans to lift customs tariffs on Afghan exports to China by the end of this year, further strengthening trade ties between the two nations.
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