Afghan transportation officials have recently released a directive indicating that each driver of Iranian fleet carrying export commodities can enter Afghanistan only once every 25 days, otherwise they will have to pay fines, according to director general of Transportation and Transit Affairs with the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization.
“Although the directive has not yet been put into effect, it has already caused problems for Iranian truck drivers and those crossing Milak border were held up in long lines at the checkpoint,” Javad Hedayati was quoted as saying by ILNA.
This issue, he added, has a history and Afghanistan’s public and private sectors have for a long time wanted to increase the share of Afghan fleet in bilateral trade with Iran.
“This is an attempt to reduce the passage of Iranian fleet into their country so as to increase the share of their own. The newly-appointed officials in Afghanistan have been encouraged to take out such a measure by previous ones who have always wanted to implement such policies for their own benefit. This is while, due to security reasons, our drivers more often than not, unload their freight near the border and return to the country while the Afghan fleet go as far as Bandar Abbas and other destinations in Iran.”
Hedayati noted that Iran has the means, power and opportunity to retaliate, yet “there is a need to bear all aspects of any measure before implementing it”.
Afghanistan’s TOLO News reported on Saturday, citing officials from Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment that Afghan exports through Iran’s Chabahar Port have been halted for the last three months.
According to officials, technical problems at India's Nhava Sheva Port are one of the key reasons behind the stoppage of exports, because the goods exported from Chabahar are dispatched through Nhava Sheva Port to India.
“I think due to some problems in Nhava Sheva Port, traders do not export their products,” said Yunus Momand, the head of ACCI.
Statistics of ACCI show that a large ship with food is transported to Afghanistan every 15 days through Chabahar Port, but the country’s exports are still suspended.
According to officials, most of the oil and sugar from the UAE and other countries enters Afghanistan through Chabahar.
On the other hand, a number of economists believe that political challenges in Afghanistan are the main cause of the slow process of exports from the country.
“When we do not export, it does not mean that we do not export through Chabahar Port or somewhere else; it means that we do not have exports and rely entirely on imports,” said Seyyed Masoud, an economic analyst.
According to the economist, the decline in the country’s GDP, agriculture and investment have also had an effect on the decline in exports through Chabahar Port.
“When our traders export goods to other countries, they receive their money through bank accounts. But banking services allow around 30,000 afghanis thath only constitute around 5% of total transaction, which is a big problem for traders,” said Bahram Ramish, an economic analyst.
Currently, Afghanistan exports most of its products through the Karachi and Waga ports of Pakistan, which has diminished the role of Chabahar Port in exporting Afghan goods.
