Business

President Ashraf Ghani who was on a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, says Abu Dhabi is ready to buy all Afghan saffron and establish air corridor with Afghanistan. Speaking to Afghan businessmen in Dubai, Ghani said that the UAE will import all saffron produced in Afghanistan this year. …

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has donated $30 million for reconstruction of Kabul-Kandahar highway, the Ministry of Public Works said on Saturday. The provided funds will be spent on repairing of Kabul-Kandahar highway through the Ministry of Public Works.  The highway is being damaged due to conflicts, low quality of asphalt and …

Afghanistan dispatched its first set of cargo trucks carrying 570 tons of export goods to India through Iran’s Chabahar Port on Sunday. The shipment left for Chabahar from Zaranj, the capital of northwestern Nimroz province. Inaugurating the first Afghan cargo in Zaranj City, President Ghani said that Afghanistan is transforming …

The Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) says insecurity has affected development projects across the country and that among 6,000 projects 100 of them have not even begun.   Isa Qudrat, the Deputy Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development said that efforts are underway to consult with the people …

Residents say they were lining up on daily bases at Pakistan embassy in Kabul to obtain visa but cannot acquire it easily unless they pay a bribe to relevant authorities. They said obtaining a visa for a person, particularly ailing individuals, consumes a lot of time and some even fail …

A massive fire broke out in the footwear section of Kabul’s Mandawi market on Sunday morning, destroying over 200 businesses in the capital.  Eyewitnesses said that the blaze broke out at around 06:30 am in a shoe store in the market and quickly spread to nearby shops in the market. “The …

Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has launched “Cheraghe Khana” services will provide solar powered lighting solutions to Afghans who don’t have access to grid based on electric power. Cheraghe Khana—‘The Gift of Light’, is an affordable solar home system which easy to pay, easy to install and easy to use. The system is supported …

The Ministry of Telecommunication and Information (MCIT) says within a month the price of internet services will be reduced by 50 percent in the country.  MCIT said that Afghanistan has got membership of the Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) – a major regional initiative aimed at creation of transitional fiber …

Balkh – Istanbul air corridor, linking Afghanistan with European countries via Turkey, inaugurated on Wednesday. The inauguration ceremony was kicked off in Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport in Mazar-i-Sharif City. The first flight with two tons of raisins and three tons of dried berries took off to London. According …

Afghan currency which is double in value against Pakistani rupee, being exchanged at the same value in business transactions in eastern Paktia province of Afghanistan. Local residents said that despite the authorities have imposed restrictions on the usage of Pakistani rupees, the foreign currency still being widely used in the …

The Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of the Parliament) on Monday approved the national budget for the fiscal year 2019 with a total outlay of 399 billion Afghanis. The budget plan for the solar year 1398 includes 124 billion Afghanis for development in various sectors including information technology, agriculture, transit routes, and power generation. …

The Ministry of Agriculture says the export of Afghan Saffron to markets in abroad has increased, stressing that Turkey is ready to buy 300 kilograms of saffron from Afghanistan. “Several countries have shown willingness to buy Afghan saffron including Turkey which is set to buy about 300kg of the saffron …

Afghan parliamentarians on Wednesday impeached two ministers for their failure to spend their development budget. But at the end of the session, both ministers secured votes of confidence to continue their jobs. During the session, the Transport Minister Mohammad Hamid Tahmasi and the Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Shahzad Gul …

The Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) on Sunday said that the next fiscal year’s national budget is at risk of misuse by the government and some influential figures, asserting that if the budget was approved by parliament it will have harmful consequences on development projects in the country. Syed Ikram Afzali, the head …

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 …

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Sunday said that the government revenue has reached 173 billion Afghanis in the current solar year which shows an increase of 14 percent compared to last year. Addressing a press conference on the outcomes of the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan, Shamruz Masjidi, Spokesman of …

The United States has exempted the Chabahar port along with an attached railway project and Iranian petroleum shipments to Afghanistan after re-imposing sanctions on Tehran. “After extensive consideration, the United States has provided an exception under the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act to allow Afghanistan to continue to import petroleum …

With five reforms in the past year, Afghanistan has improved its position from 183rd to 167th position in the global ease of doing business rankings, the World Bank said in its latest annual report on Wednesday. “Improving the business environment is essential for Afghanistan to stimulate domestic investment and create …

The Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Ashraf Ghani has approved in principle the national budget for the fiscal year 2019. From a total of 399 billion Afghanis national budget proposal, half of them will be paid for by Afghanistan’s domestic revenue. “Out of the total budget AFN124 billion outlay is …

The World Bank will provide $403 million to support education and rural women in Afghanistan. The agreements were signed on Tuesday by Mohammad Humayon Qayoumi, the Acting Minister of Finance and Chief Advisor on Infrastructure and Technology to the President, and Shubham Chaudhuri, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan in …