Business
Protesters Closed Hairatan Port in Balkh
Balkh protesters on Wednesday closed Hairatan commercial port and vowed to keep it shut until government accepts their demands.
Deputy of Jumbish Party, Gul Mohammad Arkin, said Thursday that the port will remain closed for shipments coming in from Uzbekistan and for government employees.
Meanwhile, residents in the northern provinces, especially traders, urged protesters not to disturb their daily and economic activities.
Protests were launched two weeks ago in a number of provinces in north of Afghanistan after Nizamuddin Qaisari, the district police chief for Qaisar and close aide to exiled First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was arrested by government forces.
The protesters are mostly all supporters of Dostum-led Junbish-e-Milli party, demanding for Dostum’s return to the country and for the immediate release of commander Qaisari.
The protesters have also closed Aqina port, the border crossing in Faryab province between Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, since the last ten days.
Last week, during a press conference in Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the likely return of Gen. Dostum from Turkey, but he did not elaborate further.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
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.
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.
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