Monday March 20, 2017
Kabul (BNA) Deputy Trade Minister Mohammad Qurban Haqjo on Sunday underlined that his country is broadening its trade relations with Iran.
‘Afghanistan has reduced its trade exchanges with Pakistan by half, but it is at the same time boosting its economic ties with Iran,” Haqjo said.
“The value of Iran-Afghanistan trade balance hit $2.579 million in 2015,” he added. He noted that Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce put the value of trade exchanges with Pakistan to hit $3 billion in 2015, while the same figure has hit $1.5 billion in 2016. “China, Iran and India will soon replace Pakistan in Afghanistan’s markets and Islamabad will lose its biggest market soon,” he said. Haqjo added that blocking the paths to Pakistan for Afghan people and businessmen has incurred a loss of $100 million for the merchants.
