Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Aziz left for Türkiye late Tuesday to participate in the opening program of the annual Halal Expo International Trade Exhibition, the ministry said in a statement.

The exhibition is the world’s largest “halal organization,” and the goal for 2024 is to attract over 500 procurement professionals from across the globe. It is scheduled to be held from November 27 to 30 in Istanbul.

Azizi will give a speech at the opening event and participate in other programs on the sidelines of the expo.

More than 30 members of the private sector are accompanying Aziz to the expo and Afghan products, services and goods, including carpets, precious and semi-precious stones, dried fruits and banking services will be displayed in eight booths.

The annual expo is held under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkiye, and is organized by various Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) institutions.

In 2023, the Halal Expo Exhibition brought together 314 companies from 45 different countries, including 220 from abroad.

With a total of 23,351 visitors last year, including 7,375 international guests from 82 countries, the event also hosted various high-profile international officials.

Organizers are however anticipating around 40,000 visitors this year, including 10,000 from abroad.

The event aims to facilitate increased participation of companies in the halal sector through B2B agreements.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that the UN’s latest report on media restrictions was not objective and rejected its findings.

UN in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated in its report that after reviewing the media situation from August 15, 2021 to September 30, 2024, there had been 336 cases of violations of human rights of journalists and media workers in the country, including 256 arrests and ill-treatment and 75 instances of threats and intimidation.

UNAMA said in its report that media and journalists face many challenges, including lack of access to information, and severe restrictions in doing their work.

The ministry also said the report is in contradiction with the efforts of the Islamic Emirate to support the media.

Karen Decker, the charge d'affaires of the US Embassy for Afghanistan, said in an online meeting with reporters on Monday that, without the participation of countries in the region, no solution for Afghanistan is possible.

"There is no solution for Afghanistan that does not involve the region and especially the Afghans and Afghans talk with their neighbors,” said Decker.

In response to a question about the future US president's policy towards Afghanistan, she said that this will become clear only once Donald Trump officially takes office in January.

Referring to the activities of terrorist groups, Decker emphasized that these groups are not only active in Afghanistan, but fighting them requires regional cooperation.

Decker also referred to the Doha agreement between the United States and the Islamic Emirate and said that one of the provisions of this agreement is that terrorist groups should not be present in Afghanistan and that the territory of the country should not be used against others.

She also stated that “if the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) want to have good relations with other countries, they should have good relations with the men and women of their country."

"Any support and legitimacy that the Taliban (Islamic Emirate) want from the international community, first begins with the support of Afghans," she said.

Karen Decker emphasized that the United States is working with Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights, to evaluate the Islamic Emirate's laws.

Regarding the new laws of the Islamic Emirate, she said that she does not know how these laws will be applied.

On education, she said: “Education is not only a human right, but also vital for the survival of Afghanistan, which is why the United States of America is working with education experts to help Afghan students overcome problems and obstacles such as access to technology."