Iran Dominates Half of Afghanistan Market
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Iranian commercial attaché in Kabul Mohammad Mehdi Javanmard says almost half of imported goods to Afghanistan market are from Iran, adding that Afghanistan enjoys having good capacity for imports of technical and engineering imports.
Speaking on the current condition of Iran’s trade with Afghanistan and when was asked why Iran’s exports to Afghanistan have remained unchanged between 3 to four billion dollars and it has not increased, Javanmard said that the capacity of Afghanistan market is not more than this figure.
He added that in the first year of entering Afghan market, Iran’s exports to this country were around $1b and the figure rose to $3b in 2013.
Javanmard further said that currently Iran’s exports to Afghanistan are around $4b and due to some regulations of the Central Bank the figure has actually increased by $30.
He noted that Iran’s exports of goods to Afghanistan are valued at $3b while the total volume of Afghanistan imports is around $7b, and Iran actually takes the control of half of Afghanistan market. So the condition for Iran’s exports to this country is good and considerable amount of goods in Afghanistan is Iranian, he added.
He noted that because of devaluation of the national currency, export is justifiable but export needs integrated and targeted planning and if export policies are accompanied by planning, the country will have organized export and it can also witness surge in export.
Javanmard also pointed to the recent exhibition of Iran’s technical and engineering services exhibition in Afghanistan and said the exhibition saw the biggest trade delegation of Iran in Afghanistan in the past 25 years, adding that the good relations between both countries have led to good relations between traders of them and the exhibition was welcomed uniquely by Afghan people and companies.
He also urged Iranians to work on exporting technical and engineering services to Afghanistan, saying that Afghanistan with a population more than 40m has great capacity in developing industrial infrastructures and it is a good opportunity for Iranians for transfer of technical knowhow to Afghanistan.
