Iranian Envoy: Iran, Afghanistan Aim for $10 Billion in Bilateral Trade

The acting head of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul told TOLOnews that, given the historical, cultural, geographical and religious ties between Afghanistan and Iran, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is expanding.

According to him, the two countries aim to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion.

Alireza Bikdeli added that trade between the two countries has now reached nearly $4 billion and that developing roads, railways and transit infrastructure is essential to achieving the target.

Bikdeli said: “We have set a target of $10 billion, and today I can say that a major part of the groundwork for achieving this goal has been completed. Fortunately, to reach this target, we needed suitable border crossings, roads and railways, all of which are now in place.”

The acting head of the Iranian Embassy stressed that one of the main challenges to increasing trade is the limited capacity of some border crossings. He said the Dogharoun, Mahirud, Abu Nasr Farahi, Milak and Abrisham crossings need to be expanded to boost trade.

He also described the Khaf-Herat railway as an important trade route, saying the volume of goods transported along the railway has increased to nearly 1.5 million metric tons annually.

Alireza Bikdeli, acting head of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul, added: “The obstacles have been identified, but we cannot even call them obstacles. They are, in fact, new requirements for expanding brotherly relations and good-neighborly ties with the dear country of Afghanistan. We are negotiating and planning to achieve these goals.”

Despite the increase in trade between Afghanistan and Iran, Afghanistan’s exports to Iran remain very low compared with its imports from the country, reflecting a significant trade imbalance.

Jan Aqa Navid, an economic analyst, said: “Iran ranks first in Afghanistan’s trade compared with other countries and therefore holds particular importance for us. The proposed goal of increasing bilateral trade to $10 billion is achievable, and we can even hope that the figure will exceed $10 billion.”

The acting head of the Iranian Embassy also cited the development of the Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif railway and the completion of the Farah-Mahirud road as other projects aimed at expanding economic and transit cooperation between the two countries.