Chabahar has replaced the port of Karachi

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Kabul: Mohammad Kohgerd, Director General of Iran's South Khorasan Customs, said that the transit of goods through the "Mahiroud" customs of that country to Afghanistan has increased by 110% in the 8 months of this solar year.

Based on his statements; In this solar year, six thousand and 176 trucks were transited to Afghanistan through Mahirood Customs, which has increased by 110% in terms of the number of trucks.

He added that during this period, 156,935 tons of goods were transited to Afghanistan, which has grown by 88% in terms of weight.

He said that these items were transited to Afghanistan from Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam in eight months of this solar year.

Following his statements; A number of economic affairs experts and businessmen, in a conversation with Ava reporter, emphasized that the businessmen of the country are no longer interested in transferring their transit goods from Karachi Wagh Port.

Based on their statements; Although the port of Karachi imposes a lower cost on the shoulders of traders in the transit of goods; But Pakistan's policies and the stopping of thousands of containers in the past few months have made traders no longer interested in using this port.

Mohammad Nabi Afghan, an expert in economic affairs, told AVA reporter that after the new government took office, Iran's Chabahar port has become an alternative to Karachi port, and businessmen of the country use it more for exporting and importing goods to Afghanistan.

He added that although Afghanistan's trade was carried out from Pakistan's Karachi port for many years; But recently, Pakistan's strict policies have caused traders to turn to this port as an alternative.

He emphasized that Afghanistan is no longer dependent on a specific country in terms of transit routes, and the economic vulnerability due to the policies of countries, especially Pakistan, has also decreased significantly.

Based on Afghan statements; In the past years, Pakistan has caused a lot of losses by imposing its own laws on the businessmen of the country and using the port of Karachi as a political tool against Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Mir Shakib, another economic expert, told AVA reporter that Chabahar port is close to Nimroz province of the country, and from the point of view of costs, it is not much different from Karachi port.

He added that many facilities such as hotels and many warehouses for storing commercial goods have been built around Chabahar port, which has increased the interest of traders to use this port.

This is despite the fact that before this, more than three thousand containers of Afghan traders' goods were stopped in Karachi port; A number of businessmen told Ava reporter that they are no longer interested in using this port.

Yunus Momand, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said that after Pakistan imposed restrictions, 3,380 containers of Afghan businessmen's property have been stopped in Karachi since several months.

According to Momand, the value of this transit property is 2 billion dollars, and every day, hundreds of thousands of dollars of dirt money are added by the government of Pakistan.

"Afghan traders have decided not to use Karachi port in the future unless there is a regular international guarantee," he said.

It should be mentioned that Afghanistan imports most of the goods it needs from other countries, and the common borders with Iran are one of the main transit routes of goods to the country.