IEA hoping to top $10b in trade volume

TEHRAN (Ariana News): Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry says that they are trying to increase the volume of trade between Afghanistan and Iran to the value of $10 billion dollars in the next few years.
Nuruddin Azizi, who is part of the Afghanistan delegation in Iran, emphasized in a conversation with the Iranian media that both countries have the capacity to expand their economic relations and increase the volume of trade.
“Of course, the capacities that Afghanistan has and the capacities that are available in both countries, we want to increase Afghanistan’s trade up to $10 billion dollars in the next few years, as I said in my previous interviews, there is capacity on both sides, especially mineral resources, agriculture and industrial programs that we have in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has the ability to trade with Iran up to 10 billion dollars,” said Azizi.
At the same time, Mohammad Mehdi Jawanmard, an advisor to the Iranian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan, says that Iran wants to expand economic ties with Afghanistan. He also said that the culmination of the delegation’s visit to Iran will see both sides signing a number of memorandums of understanding to expand commercial and economic relations.
“Iran does not want to import raw natural resources from Afghanistan to Iran. We made this understanding with the Afghan side to the extent that it can be processed in Afghanistan and the final product transferred. We want to expand our commonalities and economic infrastructure, and they will visit different places during this trip, and finally the memorandums of understanding will be signed by Mr. Mullah Baradar (the IEA’s deputy prime minister of economic affairs) and Mr. Kazemi Qomi (Iran’s special envoy to Afghanistan),” said Mohammad Mehdi Jawanmard, an advisor to the Iranian president’s special envoy for Afghanistan.
Azizi meanwhile also emphasized the expansion of border cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan and added that in future they will try to establish a common border market between both countries so that the people of both sides can benefit from each other’s industry and skills without obtaining a visa.
On the other hand, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his accompanying delegation met with a number of Afghan businessmen and investors residing in Iran and assured them that the necessary facilities are available for them to come to Afghanistan and invest.