Business

Chamber meets with IEA to resolve challenges, including tax issues

Published

2 years ago

February 9, 2022

(Last Updated On: February 9, 2022)

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

Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 17, 2024)

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.

Business

Afghanistan-Kazakhstan chamber of commerce opens in Herat

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 15, 2024)

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.

Business

Afghanistan reaches self-sufficiency in production of 133 items: MoIC

Published

6 days ago

April 13, 2024

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: April 13, 2024)

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says Afghanistan has reached self-sufficiency in 45 sectors and the production of 133 items, and that the ministry is striving to change Afghanistan from an importing country to an exporting one.

The ministry officials said that for this purpose, supporting domestic products and attracting investment is essential.

The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada emphasized increasing the use of domestic goods and products in government and national projects and added that efforts have also begun to find a market for domestic products inside and outside the country.

“We have reached self-sufficiency in 133 items of production, which is 45 sectors, and also we reached the capacity of semi-self-sufficiency in 95 items of production, which is 27 sectors,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) says over the past two and a half years, more attention has been paid to the development of domestic production and it is also expanding.

The chamber officials stressed expanding the culture of using domestic products in government projects.

“I think that the government is one of the biggest consumers in the market if it uses domestic products in all its development projects,” said Abdul Nasir Rashtia, a member of ACIM.

Economic experts also said that if the use of domestic products in government projects increases, Afghanistan will quickly move towards economic independence.