Business

Western Union, MoneyGram resume services to Afghanistan

Published

4 years ago

September 3, 2021

(Last Updated On: )

Western Union Co and MoneyGram International Inc resumed money-transfer services to Afghanistan on Thursday, moves in line with a U.S. push to allow humanitarian activity to continue after the Taliban’s takeover, Reuters reported.

According to the report pair suspended services in Afghanistan more than two weeks ago after the Islamist militia captured Kabul at lightning speed.

But an easing of security concerns following the completion of the Taliban’s conquest of the country opened the way for the reopening this week of banks, which the money-transfer firms rely on to dispense and collect funds.

Jean Claude Farah, Western Union’s president in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, told Reuters the reopening of banks, plus a push by the United States to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, had given the American company confidence to resume services on Thursday.

“Much of our business involving Afghanistan is low-value family and support remittances that support basic needs of the people there, so that’s the grounding that we have and why we want to reopen our business,” Farah said.

“We’ve engaged with the U.S. government, which has conveyed that allowing humanitarian activities, including remittances, to continue are consistent with U.S. policy.”

The flow of funds from migrant workers overseas is a key lifeline for many Afghans and has helped the economy of one of the world’s poorest nations weather years of violence and instability. The United Nations says about half of the population requires aid amid the second drought in four years, Reuters reported.

In a statement, MoneyGram said following guidance from the U.S. government, it was resuming its services in coordination with its partners in the country and the Afghanistan Banks Association.

“We recognize that remittances play a pivotal role in the livelihood and daily needs of the Afghan people,” MoneyGram said.

According to Reuters yet U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said it is committed to allowing humanitarian work to continue in Afghanistan.

“We are continuing to engage with the U.S. government and others to understand their policies and what type of longer term regulatory framework will be put in place as it relates to the Taliban,” Western Union’s Farah said.

Remittances to Afghanistan reached $789 million in 2020, around 4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), the World Bank estimated, down from $829 million in 2019.

Such flows have historically played an important role in supporting financial stability. Along with international grants and resilient exports, remittances helped Afghanistan’s current account surplus reach 14.2% of GDP in 2020, the International Monetary Fund said in June.

In recent days, Afghanistan’s central bank has provided funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars to each bank that requested liquidity, a senior banker told Reuters. But the financial system and economy could be in peril unless the Taliban can access the central bank’s roughly $10 billion in assets, which are mostly outside of the country.

Farah said Western Union had been assured by the banks it partners with in Afghanistan that they had sufficient cash to pay receivers of remittances.

“Some of them have indicated at some locations that they have good liquidity in afghani and at least some liquidity in U.S. dollars as well, we allow payouts in both, to resume remittances,” he added.

Before it shut down services on Aug. 16, around 45% of each transaction sent via Western Union to Afghanistan was $200 or less, he said.

Western Union said on Thursday that payouts of any funds sent to Afghanistan were available in select locations. Outbound services, money sent from there to other countries, remained suspended, it added.

Related Topics:Afghanistan banks featured MoneyGram services Western Union

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Business

Iran’s non-oil export to Afghanistan up 31% in 10 months

Iran exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.9 billon to Afghanistan between March 20 last year and January 19 this year.

Published

19 hours ago

March 9, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

The value of Iran’s non-oil export to Afghanistan increased by 31 percent in the first ten months of the Persian calendar against the same period last year, Tehran officials confirmed.

The Tehran Times reported that Iran exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.9 billon to Afghanistan between March 20 last year and January 19 this year.

The spokesperson for the Trade Development Committee of the House of Industry, Mining, and Trade, Ruhollah Latifi, said Afghanistan was the fourth top export destination of Iranian products among Iran’s neighbors in the mentioned ten months.

In a meeting with an Iranian trade delegation in Kabul last August, Afghanistan’s interim Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund said that his country is eager to attract Iranian investors in order to develop the Afghan mining industry, generate solar electricity and expand railway connectivity.

The Iranian delegation also proposed to launch a joint special industrial zone with Afghanistan.

Noting that Afghanistan has turned into a good place for making investment, Baradar said that the relevant ministries and organizations will cooperate and work closely with investors.

The Iranian delegation, made up of economic and trade players, also held a separate meeting with Afghanistan’s acting minister of commerce Haji Nooruddin Azizi. They called for the formation of a joint economic-mining zone between the two neighboring countries.

Business

Commerce Ministry signs MoU with 15 enterprises

Published

3 days ago

March 7, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) says it has signed memoranda of understanding worth over $12 million with 15 organizations to support and develop small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

During the signing ceremony, ministry officials emphasized that project implementation must prioritize support for individuals genuinely engaged in economic activities.

The ministry stated that 7,673 people in Kabul, Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Balkh, Kandahar, Logar, Kunduz, Baghlan, Badakhshan, Badghis, Faryab, Jowzjan, Nangarhar, Takhar, and Bamyan provinces will benefit from these initiatives.

The ministry’s spokesman Abdul Salam Jawad Akhundzada said, “These 15 organizations will execute developmental, skill-building, and educational projects valued at $12,475,406, focusing on entrepreneurship training, carpet industry development, jewelry, and handicrafts.”

Private sector representatives welcomed the move, stating that supporting SMEs will positively impact Afghanistan’s economic and developmental activities.

They added that consistent investment in the carpet industry could curb widespread unemployment and play a pivotal role in rural economic development.

Private sector members further noted that small businesses fulfill essential livelihood needs for communities and will contribute to training professional and technical personnel, as well as fostering growth in large-scale industries.

Business

Uzbekistan set to open permanent trade center in northern Afghanistan

Published

4 days ago

March 6, 2025

Ariana News

(Last Updated On: )

Uzbekistan is set to open a trade center in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, which will provide Uzbek entrepreneurs with a platform to market their goods in Afghanistan.

According to Trend news agency, the center will cover an area of 220 square meters and will also be used to find new trading partners between Afghan and Uzbek entrepreneurs and expand export opportunities.

The center will house permanent showrooms and warehouses for pharmaceuticals, electrical goods, and construction materials.

Trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan reached $153.7 million in January 2025. This is 231 percent more compared to the same period last year ($46.3 million in January 2024).

Last week the Uzbek Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade said Uzbekistan and Afghanistan plan to increase the trade turnover to $3 billion.

The current state and future prospects of bilateral trade and economic relations were discussed on Saturday during a meeting between Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov, and Afghan Trade Minister Nuruddin Azizi, who was visiting the Termez International Trade Center in the Surkhandarya region, the ministry said in a statement.

The latest trade house development comes amid concerted efforts by both countries to boost their cross-border trade relations.