Business
Parliament Members Involved in Illegal Extortion in Custom Departments:Alkozai
Officials in chamber of commerce and industry have urged some members of the National Assembly of Afghanistan are involved in illegal extortion of custom departments, saying the members of the parliament escort the trucks from the Kabul gates all the way to the custom departments to gain money.
Further he mentioned that the illegal extortion process continued for 16 years in Afghanistan where police forces, illegal armed gunmen, robbers are involved in it, saying now the members of the parliament launched efforts to gain money by escorting the businessmen trucks up to custom departments with their armed body guards.
Deputy of the chamber of commerce and industry Khanjan Alkozai said, “It’s unfortunate that members of the parliament implement its own regulation on truck drivers in highways, scales, and custom departments, and are involved in escorting trucks by guarding it from the Kabul gates all the way to custom departments, demanding the president to stop lawmakers from doing so.”
Meanwhile members of the house confirmed corruption among the members of the parliament insisting on disclosing their names and backgrounds.
Lawmaker Abdul Satar Khawasi said, “I confirm corruption among MPs, but disclosing of the names that are involved in corruption cases is important.”
Economy experts believed that existence of corrupted figures in economy sectors caused the corruption to be increased.
Economy expert Taj Mohammad Talash said, “Huge number of figures in legislative and execution are involved in corruption, President should launch combat against the corrupted members of the house, otherwise the system will be deteriorated.”
Enormously the truck Union members expressed concerns over illegal extortion, saying Afghan police forces are taking extortion from the truck drivers in 42 police checkpoints started from Chaman border crossing all the way to Kabul city.
Reported by: Aslam Hejaab
Business
Afghanistan starts exporting via railway to Turkey
The Ministry of Interior says that Afghanistan has started exporting goods to Turkey via the Herat-Khaf railway line.
In a post on X, the ministry said: “Afghanistan’s exports to Turkey started in a calm atmosphere through the Herat-Khaf railway line.”
The ministry added that one train will run daily for a month and then two trains will run daily.
According to the ministry, the security of Khaf-Herat railway line is provided by the guards of the National Public Protection Agency.
Khaf-Herat railway project not only connects Iran and Afghanistan by rail, but also completes a 2,000-kilometer route along the east-west rail corridor from China, through Uzbekistan, to Afghanistan, to Iran, and on to Turkey and Europe.
As a landlocked country, this railway network will provide a safe route to connect with Europe via Iran’s railway network and Iran’s southern ports.
This railway line is strategic for trade between Iran and Afghanistan and will allow six million tons of goods to be sent between the two countries.
Business
Afghanistan, Kazakhstan to hold joint expo in Kabul
A joint expo between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan will be held in Kabul in the next four days, officials said on Sunday.
Officials of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that the two-day expo will be held for the purpose of expanding and strengthening trade relations between the two countries.
“This expo will be held as a follow-up of the Kazakh-Afghan international expo, which was held in the city of Astana, Kazakhstan, with the participation of a large delegation of the government and the private sector of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” Abdulsalam Javad Akhundzadeh, the spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said.
“At this expo, domestic products from different sectors of Afghanistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan will be put on display for two days.”
According to officials, 40 large Kazakh companies, and 40 large Afghan companies will exhibit their products.
Mohammad Saber Latifi, head of the Afghanistan International Expo Center, said that fruits, minerals and commercial services will be displayed at the expo.
During the expo, various memorandums of understanding for the trade of goods are also expected to be signed by companies.
Business
Afghanistan’s economic prospects are bleak: World Bank
The absence of GDP growth coupled with declining external financing avenues for off-budget expenditures paint a bleak picture of Afghanistan’s economic prospects, the World Bank said.
After a severe 20.7 percent GDP contraction in 2021, the Afghan economy contracted further by 6.2 percent in 2022, the bank said in a report.
“While Afghanistan’s agricultural and subsistence economy, including illicit opium production, provided some resilience in rural areas, higher prices, reduced demand, lower employment, and disruptions to services had severe impacts across the country,” it said.
The proportion of households that did not have enough income to meet basic food needs more than doubled from 16 percent to 36 percent in this period, according to the bank.
In the context of deep concerns about the policies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), including restrictions imposed on women and girls, the international community, including the World Bank, recalibrated its approach to supporting Afghanistan: first to providing humanitarian support and then to providing off-budget support for basic service delivery and livelihoods.
However, IEA moved to restore domestic revenues, which reached $2.2 billion or 15 percent of GDP in 2022. “Nevertheless, overall economic activity remained depressed, unemployment stayed high, and the banking sector was dysfunctional due to constraints on international transfers and concerns about liquidity and solvency.”
World Bank said that Afghanistan’s economic outlook remains uncertain, with the threat of stagnation looming large until at least 2025. “This economic stagnation will deepen poverty and unemployment, with job opportunities expected to decrease and food insecurity expected to increase.”
The bank noted that for a sustainable future, Afghanistan needs to focus on its comparative advantages, particularly in the agricultural and extractive sectors. Agriculture could be a key driver of growth and poverty reduction, with the potential to create jobs, it added.
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