Officials at the Chamber of Commerce and Industries on Tuesday reported that Afghanistan’s export revenues grew by 49 percent in the first nine months of this solar year in comparison to the same period of the last one.
Export revenues reached 399 million USD in the first nine months of 1392, while that same figure was only 267 million USD the year prior.
According to officials, the country has increasingly exported fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, grains, soft drinks, carpets, herbal medicine, precious and semi-precious stones, dairy products, cotton and other goods.
Officials cited good climate, increased standardization in packaging, fewer natural disasters, improved transit conditions, reduced border problems and improved trade relations with the U.S. and Europe as the main reasons behind the rise in exports.
However, the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries Mohammad Qurban Haqjo said that the increase in exports was still negligible in comparison to the amount of imports in Afghanistan.
“Considering our imports, the figure is very worthless,” Haqjo said. “Still, our trade deficit is significantly low. We will have around 200 million more exports in next three months, but the trade deficit will be the same as in the past.”
Trade deficit denotes a country’s ratio of exports to imports.
Haqjo went on to argue for passage of the new Law on Mines, which remains dormant in Parliament. He said the law was critical to drawing new foreign investment in Afghanistan that could help boost exports.
“We don’t know why the law has not been approved,” he said. “The President could sign it in the absence of Parliament and then Parliament can approve it after the end of winter recess.”
Parliament began its 45-day winter holiday this week, despite having a number of legislative items that have been on the docket for sometime without seeing any progress.
Tolonews
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