Now there is no fundamental problem in Afghanistan's trade and transactions with Arab countries

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)-Kabul: Recently, a meeting was held between the Afghan delegation headed by Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate, and Abdullah Bin Tuq Al Mari, the Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, and in this meeting, important issues such as mining, mechanization of agriculture, marketing for agricultural products, creating trade facilities, developing trade and transit between the two countries, transferring Afghan workers to the UAE, normalizing banking relations and cooperation between Chambers of Commerce have been held.

Jan Agha Navid, the spokesman of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, in an interview with AVA, also informs about the development of trade with other Arab countries.

The spokesperson of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment also said that according to the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, Afghanistan's trade relations with Arab countries are currently normal and there are no fundamental problems in transactions.

According to Navid, currently Afghanistan's exports to Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia continue as normal, and the fields for business development have been provided more than in the past.

Navid also added: Among Afghanistan's commercial items, saffron, dried and fresh fruits, handicrafts, precious and semi-precious stones, including ornamental stones and marble, are exported to the mentioned countries.

The spokesperson of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment stated: Arab countries are mostly rich and can be good marketing options for Afghan commercial goods transactions, therefore more facilities should be created for Afghan businessmen in the future.

Navid added: In order to develop trade with Arab countries, Afghanistan wants preferential schemes and more facilities, especially the processing of export items, and solving customs challenges in the mentioned countries.

Navid also asked the Arab countries that customs tariffs should be reduced, so that Afghan businessmen become more capable and can export commercial goods to Arab countries more easily.

On the other hand, economic experts consider the expansion of trade relations with Arab countries to be beneficial and emphasize that Afghanistan should establish a foundation for its export items, especially underground resources, with every country.

In an interview with AVA, Abdul Nasir Rashtiya, an expert on economic affairs, says that in general, Arab countries are strong countries that can invest in different sectors of Afghanistan.

According to Rashtiya, since Afghanistan is a country of opportunities and has large investment capacities, therefore, as trade relations with Arab countries expand, it can help in economic growth to the same extent.

On the other hand, according to Rashtia, having strategic trade relations with Arab countries will allow us to create new markets for selling our goods.

According to him, export-based economic growth has been experienced in many countries, such as China, South Korea, etc., and Afghanistan also has this capacity.

Pakistan's search for an alternative in Afghanistan's exports is a necessity

Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza, one of the national businessmen, in a conversation with Ava, says that trade with Arab countries, including the UAE, has recently expanded, and it is not yet clear what the challenges mainly include to be solved in the future, but the problem It still exists with neighboring countries, including Pakistan, and has not been resolved yet.

He also considers the trade with Arab countries to be beneficial to Afghanistan and emphasizes that before this, the most trade relations were with Pakistan, which was beneficial to both countries in every way, but for now, due to the creation of various obstacles on trade and transit, it seems that Pakistan does not want Afghanistan to be their trading partner, therefore, it is a necessity to find alternatives for Afghanistan's export items.

These statements are expressed while there are also fundamental challenges for the development of trade inside the country, which has hindered the growth of the export of Afghanistan's commercial items to global markets for years.

Lack of investment in economic infrastructure, such as cold stores, manufacturing and industrial companies, agricultural production companies, carpet weaving centers, mining companies such as marble, precious and semi-precious stones, and the construction of highways and dams has caused that Afghanistan is still be considered as a consumer country.

The lack of sufficient facilities to process many commercial items of Afghanistan is one of the other challenges that has reduced the value of the country's export goods in the world markets.

It should be noted that last week, Maulavi Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, at the head of a high-ranking delegation, traveled to the United Arab Emirates at the official invitation, and during this trip, he met with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of this country. visited the country and the purpose of this visit was to develop trade and economic relations.

it was also said that in this meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations, the development of economic cooperation, especially ways of marketing Afghan goods in the United Arab Emirates, and regional issues, and Mr. Motaghi, at the same time, asked the UAE to issue visas.