During a press conference held at the Government Media and Information Center, officials from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce presented their annual progress report. According to these officials, over the past year, Afghanistan’s trade volume reached approximately $10 billion, comprising $1.8 billion in exports and over $8 billion in imports.
The ministry officials stated that in the past year, through the empowerment of small and medium enterprises and the signing of agreements, a total of 646,015 direct jobs and approximately 4,418,570 indirect jobs have been created.
They further added that over the past year, 10 agreements on trade and transit facilitation with regional and other countries have been finalized, enhancing trade, transit, and investment relations with Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and other regional countries. In addition, necessary facilities were provided for 650 foreign investors during their visits to Afghanistan.
Moreover, in the past year, 100 manufacturing plants have been inaugurated, licenses have been issued to approximately 1,000 industrial and manufacturing companies, tariffs have been issued for over 650 companies, and more than 23,000 investment licenses have been renewed, amended, or extended.
The ministry highlighted that Afghanistan’s exports to Kazakhstan increased by 2.5 percent, to the People’s Republic of China by 16 percent, to the Islamic Republic of Iran by 19 percent, to the Republic of Turkey by 53 percent, and to the Russian Federation by 54 percent.
Officials also noted that over the past year, the groundwork was laid for the signing of contracts worth approximately $200 million between the Afghan private sector and Kazakhstan and contracts worth $13 million between the Afghan private sector and Turkmenistan.
According to the ministry, the development of industrial parks, construction of new industrial parks, establishment of special economic zones, standardization of domestic products, imposition of quality standards on imported goods, and strengthening of trade relations with neighboring, regional, and global countries are among the ministry’s top priorities for the current year. #
