Hossein Salimi, the Chairman of Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, on Friday put Iran’s annual trade with Afghanistan at $2.1 billion which he said failed to materialize the $2.7 billion projected for the current Iranian year due to come to an end within the next few days.
Salami said that it will take time for the new government in Afghanistan to organize the situation.
“They have political relations with the Iranian government. They’ve had meetings and even an Iranian delegation went to Afghanistan. These are a prelude to what will happen in the future while no major change is yet seen in trade between the two countries.”
Afghanistan’s total imports stood at $7 billion during the previous government, Salimi said, noting that 40% of the sum used to be met by the Iranian market.
He said that if Iran fails to increase its activities in Afghanistan, it will not be able to revive the previous level of trade with the neighboring country.
China, Turkey and Pakistan are quickly entering the Afghan market and establishing political and economic relations with the country, Salimi said.
Referring to the possibility for the Iranian private sector to cooperate in mining activities in Afghanistan, he said that the Iranian private sector has the needed facilities and knowhow to extract mines in Afghanistan but as the Afghan mines are owned by the government, any activity in Afghanistan’s mining sector would require negotiations between the two governments.
Afghanistan has very rich mines and all their mineral, iron ore in particular, are highly needed by Iran, Salimi said, adding that that’s why China is also eying active presence in Afghanistan’s mining sector.