TEHRAN- Iran and Afghanistan, two neighbors with many commonalities, believe that the current level of their mutual economic and trade ties is not satisfactory, and they should pursue the development of these ties more seriously.

In this regard, the Iranian and Afghan governments are taking some prominent measures to boost trade between the two countries.

In early March, Iran’s trade center and permanent exhibition of Iranian products was inaugurated in Kabul.

In a tweet, the Iranian Embassy in Afghanistan mentioned the purpose of opening this center is to take a fundamental step in the development of trade relations between the two countries of Iran and Afghanistan.

The embassy added that this center will be a place for Afghan businessmen to familiarize themselves with Iranian products.

The development of exports to Afghanistan with the establishment of a permanent trade center for Iranian goods in Kabul was considered the beginning of a new chapter in the economic relations between the two countries.

Then in late July, a joint exhibition of products made in Iran and Afghanistan kicked off in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat.

Over 20 major Iranian and Afghan producers showcased their products and services in 22 booths during the four-day exhibition.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition was attended by officials from both sides, including the organizer of the exhibition Ali Khaksar, Iran's Consul General in Herat Mohammad Sediqifar, and Deputy Head of Herat Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ahmad Saeed Sideqi.

Speaking to the press in the opening ceremony, Khaksar said the economics of Iran and Afghanistan are complementary and, in this regard, Iran seeks to set up production lines in Afghanistan to jointly produce the commodities needed by the Afghan market.

Introducing the Iranian industrialists to their Afghan counterparts can be an effective way to develop trade exchanges between the two countries, Ahmad Saeed Sideqi said on the sidelines of the exhibition.

Sediqifar for his part said the expansion of trade between Iran and Afghanistan benefits the two countries.

In late June, during the visit of the head of the Iranian Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)’s Afghan desk to Afghanistan, important agreements were made for the development of trade relations between the two countries.

Hamidreza Karbalaie Esmaili’s visit to Afghanistan was aimed at improving trade relations between the two neighbors in the fields of technical and engineering services, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, petrochemical products, food industry, etc.

During the visit, Esmaili met and held talks with the economic, commercial, and medical officials of the country, including the acting minister of public health, first deputy of the chamber of commerce and investment, director general of Afghanistan customs, deputy and senior advisor to the acting minister of trade, consul general of Iran in Herat, border guard commissioner, and director general of Dogharoun customs.

Following the talks, the two sides reached initial agreements for completing several infrastructure projects and decided to begin negotiations on a preferential trade agreement and expanding customs cooperation.

Also, agreements were made regarding the formation of a joint industrial zone at the two countries' border, with energy infrastructure being supplied by Iran and the investment for establishing the zone being provided by Afghan businessmen in collaboration with the Iranian private sector.

The Afghan side also announced its readiness to open a transit route from Pakistan to Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province via the Taftan-Chaman-Islam Qala-Mashhad route, which will reduce the route between the two countries from 1500 kilometers (km) to less than 1000 km.

The most recent important measure taken by the two neighbors in line with developing trade ties was signing five memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cooperation in different economic sectors.

The MOUs were signed in a ceremony on November 9 in the presence of Iranian Agriculture Minister Mohammad-Ali Nikbakht, President Raisi’s special envoy for Afghanistan Hassan Kazemi Qomi, and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs of the Taliban Government Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

The mentioned MOUs include the cooperation document of the Iran-Afghanistan Joint Economic Committee meeting, the document of the two sides’ Joint International Road Transport Cooperation Committee meeting, the MOU between Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) and the Afghan side, the MOU between Iran’s Esfahan Steel Company and the Afghan side, and the MOU between Iran’s Secretariat of Free Trade and Special Economic Zones and the Afghan sides.

Afghanistan’s delegation arrived in Iran on November 4. The 30-member delegation was led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

In the same day, Iran’s capital Tehran hosted an Iran-Afghanistan Joint Economic Committee meeting for the first time after the new government in Afghanistan took office.

The Iranian and Afghan representatives to the Joint Economic Committee held the first day of their meeting, with high-ranking economic officials of both countries being in attendance. 

The formation of joint working groups in fields such as trade, transit, transportation, customs, and the environment was discussed on the first day of the two-day meeting.

The two sides also agreed on the formation of several more working groups tasked with identifying problems in the way of economic cooperation between the two neighbors. 

Also, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash hosted a meeting with Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Hamidullah Akhundzada in which the two sides discussed ways of developing transport ties.

In a televised program on November 6, senior officials from Iran and Afghanistan explored ways of expanding economic ties between the two countries in order to increase trade exchanges to a target of $10 billion.

Economic adviser of the Iranian President’s Special Envoy in Afghanistan Affairs Mohammad-Mehdi Javanmard-Ghassab and Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Taliban Government Nooruddin Azizi said the current level of trade between the two sides is not satisfactory, and should be increased.

According to the officials, the two sides need to take the necessary measures in order to increase the level of trade up to $10 billion per year.

Asked about the areas in which the two sides can develop their economic ties, Azizi said mining industry, agriculture, and transit are among the areas in which the two sides have great potential to expand mutual cooperation.

“Afghanistan is very rich in terms of minerals and is one of the countries that is highly valued in this regard, and all Iranian economists agree on the potential for cooperation in this field,” the Afghani official said.

“We can also grow the products needed by Iran, such as cotton, beets, sesame, etc., in our agricultural lands. Of course, extraterritorial cultivation is also a very large capacity in which we can be self-sufficient and export to neighboring countries,” he added.