Iran Holds 22% of Afghan Consumer Goods Market

Afghanistan imports about $11.5 billion worth of consumer goods annually and Iran accounts for $2.5 billion of the total sum, Afghan commercial attaché to Iran, Jaber Ansar, said.

The Iranian share comprises 22% of the Afghan consumer goods market.

The official said cultural commonalities between the two countries and cheaper transportation costs reduce Afghanistan’s expenses when imports are made from Iran and this benefits Afghan consumers, IRNA reported.

Ansar added that Iranian goods have better quality compared with those of Pakistan and China.

“We want to expand our cooperation and give this opportunity to Iran to increase its current share of $2.5 billion in our consumer goods market to $5 billion,” he said.

Ansar hoped that Afghanistan’s exports to Iran would increase and called for Iranian officials’ cooperation in this regard.

Afghanistan’s exports to Iran have been as little as a dozen million dollars on average over the past decade.