Business

China Seeks Expansion of CPEC Projects to Afghanistan

Published

7 years ago

May 6, 2017

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: October 24, 2022)

China seeks to expand CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) projects to Afghanistan.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a framework of regional connectivity and it will not only benefit China and Pakistan but will have positive impact on South Asian countries including Afghanistan.

Afghan Commerce and Industries Ministry welcomes the China’s move to include Afghanistan in CPEC.

“One of the priority plans for Afghanistan is to become a transit country in the region. We want to have good relations with all countries in the region, the more we get connected with regional nations the more it will benefit our economy and trade,” said Commerce and Industries Ministry spokesman, Musafer Qoqandi.

CPEC is collection of infrastructure projects and it valued about $46 billion that will connect Asian countries to Europe in the long term. Its initial works began in 2013 in Gwadar Port by Pakistan.

“A country will not take steps forward for [expansion of a project] as long as it is not beneficial; Afghanistan’s mines are in the interest of China. Afghanistan is rich in terms of mineral resources and that could be a positive thing in this project that connects Afghanistan with China,” said the head of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), Abdul Qadir Bahman.

This comes as China is implementing “One belt One Road project in Afghanistan, beside accepting the membership of the country in Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Business

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

Published

16 hours 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

2 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

4 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.