Stepped-Up Agricultural Product Exports from Afghanistan to Pakistan

KABUL (Khaama Press): The Special Representative of Pakistan for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, said that the Pakistan import of vegetables from Afghanistan has increased to about 400 trucks per day.

The Pakistani official for Afghanistan, in a series of tweets on Sunday, October 9, stated that Pakistan imports 300 to 400 truckloads of vegetables from Afghanistan every day.

“This is the kind of mutually beneficial synergy we need to encourage to promote between the two countries,” Sadiq wrote.

The farmers and businessmen of Afghanistan are greatly benefiting from the trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan because they had a surplus of harvest this year, whereas the crops of Pakistan were destroyed by the severe floods that hit the country.

Hundreds of trucks carrying vegetables grown in Afghanistan enter Pakistan, particularly those carrying fresh tomatoes and onions, according to Sadiq.

While Afghan vegetables are being exported by hundreds of trucks, domestic vegetable prices have increased exponentially.

According to reports in the local media, 7 kilograms of onion, which once cost about 50 Afghanis, now costs 200 Afghanis. Instead of 70 or 80 Afghanis for 7 kilograms, tomatoes now cost 400 Afghanis.

Afghanistan exports appear to have increased because Pakistan, which was impacted by floods, imported surplus products from Afghanistan. According to Sadiq, this year was the “other way around,” as Pakistan used to sell vegetables to Afghanistan.