Business community urges issues to be settled in Chabahar Port

KABUL (TOLO News): A number of investors from the southern province of Kandahar said the business community is facing with “numerous problem” in their commercial transactions in Iran’s Chabahar Port.

They said that despite India, Afghanistan and Iran committed to facilitating investors and businessmen at the port, but they have not managed to deliver on those commitments.

Sayed Sarwar Amani, a factory owner in Kandahar who was interested to send his products to European markets through the Chabahar Port, said his dreams have not come true due to ongoing issues.

“There is a railway line, there is a place for residence and schools for the children of the businessmen so that they are not deprived of education, but the issue is that infrastructural works have not been done there,” said Amani.

“Only a few businessmen have invested there. Investors are not taking interest there to invest because of some restrictions,” said Nasrullah Zaherr, head of Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

Meanwhile, Iranian envoy to Kabul Mohammad Reza Bahrami said he has held talks with the business community in Kandahar and that their issues, including money transactions, will be resolved in the near future.

“We held talks about ways to improve coordination between the chamber of commerce and industries and the creation of a joint chamber of commerce and industries and on how to expand cooperation and coordinate through the private sector. We also talked about how we can establish a financial and banking system there in Chabahar,” Bahrami said.

Based on the statistics of Kandahar Chamber of Commerce and Industries, the Afghan investors have so far exported more than 100 tons of dry fruit through Chabahar port since the port became operational in 2016.