Officials from the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said on Friday that Afghan exports through Iran’s Chabahar port have been halted for the last three months.
According to officials, technical problems at India’s Nhava Sheva Port are one of the key reasons behind the stopped exports, because the exported goods from Chabahar are dispatched through Nhava Seva Port to India.
“I think due to some problems in Nhava Sheva Port, traders do not export their products,” said Yunus Momand, head of the ACCI.
Statistics from the ACCI show that a large ship with food is transported to Afghanistan every 15 days through Chabahar port, but the country’s exports are still suspended.
Meanwhile, according to officials, most of the oil and sugar from the United Arab Emirates and other countries enters Afghanistan through Chabahar.
On the other hand, a number of the economists believe that political challenges in Afghanistan are the main cause of the slow process of exports from the country.
“When we do not export, it does not mean that we do not export through Chabahar port or somewhere else, it means that we do not have exports and rely entirely on the imports,” said Sayed Masoud, an economic analyst.
According to the economists, the decline in the country’s GDP, agriculture and investment have also had an effect on the decline in exports through the Chabahar port.
“When our traders export their goods to other countries, they receive their money through bank accounts. But banking services allows around 30,000 afghanis which only constitute around 5 percent of the total transaction, which is a big problem for traders,” said Bahram Ramish, an economic analyst.
Meanwhile, based on reports, currently Afghanistan exports most of its products through the Karachi and Waga ports of Pakistan which has diminished the role of Chabahar port in exporting Afghan goods.
