Afghanistan is expected to form a joint chamber of commerce with Iran in the new fiscal year that started on March 21, according to Khanjan Alokozai, a board member of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI).
"The executive board of ACCI decided to establish a joint chamber of commerce. A commission has been appointed and it is working on the draft. It is almost completed. We proposed a temporary board," Alokozai said.
"With the launch of this chamber, trade and economic activities will increase. The traders from your country [Afghanistan] and our traders [Iran] will be engaged in face-to-face cooperation and it will increase the level of cooperation," said Taqwa Minsion, university instructor in Iran.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Economy said the formation of the joint chamber of commerce will boost economic development.
"The formation of Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce will benefit the growth of Afghanistan’s economy, and efforts will be made to improve the economic relations of Afghanistan with its neighbors," said Afghan Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari.
Also, Hossein Salimi, the chairman of Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, said last June that a mirror chamber of commerce is due to open in Kabul soon and a branch of which will open in Herat simultaneously.
Afghanistan currently has joint chambers of commerce with Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
A delegation of 70 Afghan businesspersons, one of the biggest private sector delegations to Iran from the neighboring country, arrived in Tehran in February when they held B2B meetings with their Iranian counterparts.
Afghanistan with 1.58 million tons worth $792 million of exports from Iran in the first half of the Iranian calendar year (March 21-Sept. 22) was the fourth destination for Iranian commodities among neighboring countries following Iraq, the UAE and Turkey.