Business
Chamber meets with IEA to resolve challenges, including tax issues
Afghanistan’s Chamber of Craftsmen and Shopkeepers (ACS) said Tuesday that they are facing several challenges in the country including the expectation of exorbitant taxes.
In a meeting with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) and the ACS, the head of the chamber, Noorulhaq Omari called on the authorities to remove the challenges and work with investors and craftsmen to develop the sector.
Omari said if existing problems are not resolved, craftsmen will start evading tax and cease to operate in the country.
Other ACS members said that they cannot afford the taxes that have been imposed. They also urged the IEA to work with them to resolve their issues.
The Islamic Emirate, however, says that it has plans to sort out the problems – for small, medium and large businesses in the sector.
“The current tax [system], which has been in place for five years now, is not achievable in this current economic climate and will lead to tax evasion and a drop in activity,” said Omari.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the IEA’s spokesman, said substantial progress has been made in various fields in the last six months.
Mujahid said that all the energy used to end the war and the “occupation” by foreign troops will now be used “for the development of the country and the advancement of the economy and the country’s resources”.
Ministry of Finance officials meanwhile said they are looking at cutting tax for small businesses and craftsmen by more than 50 percent.
“We have offered you a discount of more than 50 percent. My request to you is not to count taxes as consumption. Tax is not consumption. This is an investment,” said Meraj Mohammad Meraj, Director General of Revenue of the Ministry of Finance.
The leadership of the Ministry of Economy also emphasized the need for people to support small businesses and craftsmen in the country.
“When there is no safe environment, people are worried, like you look at the last twenty years and the life that has passed,” said Sheikh Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Acting of the Ministry of Vice and Virtue of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
According to the ACS, 40 percent of the craftsmen lost their jobs due to COVID-19 and the lack of support from the previous government.
Business
Afghanistan, Belarus discuss expanding industrial and trade cooperation
Particular attention was given to companies producing tractors, industrial machinery, and equipment and vehicles used in the mining sector.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, met with Belarus’ Minister of Industry during an official visit to the country.
The two sides discussed the establishment of manufacturing plants in Afghanistan, the regular organization of the Afghanistan-Belarus Business Forum, and follow-up on issues raised through the countries’ economic commission.
Belarusian officials expressed appreciation for Afghanistan’s participation in the country’s international industrial exhibition and voiced interest in expanding the presence of Belarusian manufacturing companies in Afghanistan.
Particular attention was given to companies producing tractors, industrial machinery, and equipment and vehicles used in the mining sector.
The second International Industrial Exhibition of Belarus is being held with the participation of around 500 companies from different countries. The exhibition has also attracted visitors from European and Asian countries.
Business
Afghanistan, Tajikistan seek stronger trade and investment ties
The two sides discussed increasing trade exchanges, establishing direct links between traders and investors, and organizing joint economic programs.
The heads of the chambers of commerce and industry of Afghanistan and Tajikistan have agreed to strengthen bilateral trade, promote investment and expand cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries.
Sayed Karim Hashemi, head of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI), held an online meeting with Farhad Shah Rahman Alizoda, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tajikistan, to discuss ways to expand economic ties.
The two sides discussed increasing trade exchanges, establishing direct links between traders and investors, and organizing joint economic programs.
Hashemi invited Tajik traders and investors to participate in the fifth Imam Abu Hanifa International Exhibition in Kabul.
Alizoda, meanwhile, invited an Afghan business delegation to attend a major trade and industrial exhibition in Dushanbe.
The two sides also stressed the importance of exchanging business delegations and developing long-term cooperation between the private sectors of Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
Business
Kazakhstan grain shipments to Afghanistan rise over 4-fold
Of the total, 7.2 million tons were transported for export, while 2.1 million tons were supplied to the domestic market.
Grain shipments from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan increased 4.4 times in the first eight months of the year, reaching 655,000 tons, according to Kazakhstan’s Transport Vice Minister Zhanibek Taizhanov.
Speaking at a government meeting, Taizhanov said Kazakhstan transported 9.3 million tons of grain by rail during the period, a 13% increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Of the total, 7.2 million tons were transported for export, while 2.1 million tons were supplied to the domestic market.
Taizhanov said grain shipments to Central Asia increased by 37%, while shipments to China rose by 34%. Grain exports through Russian ports also increased by 9%.
Meanwhile, combined fodder exports rose by 38% to 2.6 million tons.
Earlier, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Agriculture Azat Sultanov said the country plans to commission 15 additional vegetable storage facilities by the end of 2026, with a combined capacity of 129,000 tons.
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