The office of the first deputy prime minister, Mullah Abdullah Ghani Baradar, said that Afghanistan’s exports abroad have reached $1.85 billion over the past seven months.
According to Baradar’s office, exported goods went to Pakistan, India, Iran, China, UAE, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Iraq.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, said that most of the exports went to Pakistan, India, Tajikistan and China.
“We are trying to increase our exports this year from the previous years,” he said.
According to the ministry’s statistics, nearly $744 million worth of goods have been exported just to Pakistan.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the exports with Pakistan have doubled.
“Compared to last year, exports have doubled, especially coal and fruits,” said the head of the joint chamber, Naqibullah Safi.
Meanwhile, some traders believe that the use of air-corridors will pave the way for an increase of Afghanistan’s exports.
“It has been one year since the air-corridors have closed. Prior to that, we had exports via air-corridor to China, UAE, Tajikistan and Central Asia,” said Zalmai Azimi, a trader.
“Our carpets have not yet been exported in a proper way. The reason for this is that regular advertising and marketing have not been done so that the carpets can find a market in China,” said Salma Reha, an Afghanistan trader in China.
Carpets, dried and fresh fruits, vegetables, coal, medicinal plants and semi-precious stones are the main exported goods.