Goods supplied from Iran account for a fourth of all imports into Afghanistan, according to a trade attaché in the Iranian embassy in Kabul.
Hossein Rustayi said on Wednesday in a gathering in Tehran that Iran had exported $724 million worth of goods and commodities to Afghanistan in the four months of this year 1403 in the Iranian calendar (March 21 to July 22, 2024), showing up 28% compared to the same period last year.
Rustayi said that Afghanistan relies on import for 80% of its needs and Iran has been a main supplier of goods to this country.
He said that an improvement in security conditions in Afghanistan in the past two years had helped boost trade between the country and Iran.
The official said, however, that Iranian businesses needed to invest more in the manufacturing of certain products, including pharmaceuticals, construction materials, detergents and food in order to be able to maintain their share of the Afghan market in the coming years.
Rustayi pointed out that rivals like China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Pakistan are planning to increase their exports to Afghanistan.
Official figures show Iran’s exports to Afghanistan reached a total of $1.871 billion in the calendar year to late March, up 13.6% compared to the previous same period.
The exports rose 28% in volume terms to reach 3,414 metric tons over the past calendar year, the figures show.
MA/Press TV
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