The Second Iran-Afghanistan Business Forum and Conference, touted as “the biggest business event held between the two neighboring countries” was held at Tehran’s Olympic Hotel on Feb. 6-7.
A total of 70 Afghan businessmen and representatives of as many Iranian companies attended the event.
The conference was addressed by Hossein Salimi, the head of Iran-Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce; Abdul-Qayum Soleimani, ambassador of Afghanistan to Iran; Alireza Yavari, the deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture for international affairs; and Ahmad-Reza Allaie Tabatabaei, the deputy head of Trade Promotion Organization, the news portal of ICCIMA reported.
Specialized panels were held on Afghanistan's commodity and investment needs, investment opportunities in the country’s industrial and mining sectors and ways of removal of trade and investment barriers between Iran and Afghanistan.
“The Afghan government needs Iranian businessmen to implement many projects in Afghanistan. We hope that the Iranian government can prepare the ground for the cooperation and investment of Iranian businessmen in Afghanistan, although the Afghan government has special conditions for the cooperation of foreign investors, especially Iranians,” said the ambassador of Afghanistan to Iran said, ILNA reported.
“Businessmen in Afghanistan have created special jobs and industrial towns with their own capital, and currently, industrial towns require the presence of foreign investors to be able to continue their operations.”
Ali Chagharvand, the deputy head of ICCIMA, called for the establishment of “economic diplomacy” between the two countries to increase business relations with economic cooperation.
“Afghanistan has made a lot of investments in Iran and these relations should be targeted. For example, special attention should be paid to Chabahar Port, which has special economic significance considering that goods can be transported between Iran and Afghanistan through this port in 12 hours.”
He noted that there are currently six unused border markets between Iran and Afghanistan.
Sadeq Qannad-Zadeh, a TPO official, said one of the obstacles and problems in the development of bilateral relations is the lack of communications between the businessmen of the two countries.
“We are trying to reduce political conflicts surrounding Chabahar and increase Afghanistan and Pakistan’s trade with Iran through this port,” he said.
According to Ahmad Saeed Sadat, Afghanistan’s commercial counsellor for Iran affairs, Afghanistan supplies 90% of consumer goods from imports, most of which are imported from Iran.
“We can have cooperation with Iranian companies for investment. For example, Iran has good production capacity and technology in the field of industrial machinery production.”
Iran Trade Center, Permanent Exhibition in Kabul
The embassy of Iran in Kabul recently said Tehran is seeking to establish a permanent exhibition and a trade center in Afghanistan, TOLOnews reported.
The officials of the embassy said the establishment of this center will benefit trade between Iran and Afghanistan.
“The next step is to establish a trade center and a permanent exhibition of Iran in Kabul, which will be inaugurated soon – within one month,” said Seyyed Abbas Badrifar, press director of Iran's Embassy in Kabul.
This comes as the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment said traders are facing problems regarding the export of commodities to Iran and the establishment of this center will help traders.
“If the trade center is built, it benefits our traders. Its plans and responsibilities must be clarified, particularly there should be facilities for our trade and export,” said Khanjan Alokozai, a member of ACCI.
This comes as some traders complained that export to Iran has dropped and their main problem is an increase in tariffs.
“The main reason for the reduction of our exports is lack of marketing for products from Afghanistan,” said Mahbobullah Mohammadi, an Afghan trader.
The embassy of Iran also vowed to facilitate the issuance of visas for traders.
Earlier, the World Bank reported that it provided Afghanistan imported commodities worth nearly $3 billion between January and June, with 23 percent of this from Iran.
Afghan officials have said that the volume of imports from Iran, such as food and fuel, has totaled more than $1 billion so far this year (March 2021-22), whereas Afghanistan’s export volume to Iran was much lower and totaled only $20 million.
Iran is one of the few countries that maintained close ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Iran has continued its trade links with Afghanistan, kept issuing visas to Afghans and continued delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan during these difficult times.
With the US, Iran’s arch-rival and enemy gone, the situation is perfectly suitable for Iran to strengthen its economic and political relations with the Taliban, join hands to extract the country’s resources and turn Afghanistan into a lucrative market for its products and commercial goods.
Earlier, Iranian business officials had visited Afghanistan and met with the Taliban authorities for discussing potential investment in the war-torn country. Despite all the odds, Afghanistan can still become a potential business hub for Iran.
Taliban authorities are desperately looking for potential foreign investments, as the country is going through the worst economic, humanitarian and power crises.
Call for Iranian Investment in Afghanistan
The Iranian ambassador in Kabul says the current situation is the best opportunity to invest in Afghanistan’s mining sector.
“Now is the best opportunity to invest in Afghanistan’s mines, and we inspire Iranian investors to invest in Afghanistan,” Hassan Kazemi-Qomi was also quoted as saying by Bakhtar News Agency recently.
Cooperation with Afghanistan in various sectors is on the agenda of his country as one of Iran’s main strategies, based on a humanitarian and moral-Islamic view and securing economic benefits, he added.
He spoke about the importance of the steel industry in his country, stressing that there is no better country than Afghanistan in the field of mining for Iran.
“Afghanistan is closer to Iran in terms of carrying out economic activities and transferring knowledge and technology, as two neighboring countries have good diplomatic ties.”
The Iranian ambassador noted that currently part of Iran’s essential goods’ needs are supplied through imports from distant countries such as Australia, Brazil and Latin American countries, while Iran can channel them via Afghanistan.
Recently, Afghanistan asked Iranian investors to invest in that country’s mining sector.
Afghans Made Half of Foreign Investment in Iran Last Year
Afghan nationals are responsible for half of Iran’s foreign Investment in 2022 alone, the Iranian envoy had said earlier.
“Afghan nationals in Iran play a pivotal role toward the national economy. Half of Iran’s foreign investment comes from them, therefore, the high capacity of Afghan citizens should be utilized when the country is facing difficulties in attracting foreign investment,” Kazemi-Qomi was quoted as saying by Khama Press News Agency.
He noted that during the past year, the United Arab Emirates expelled 700 Afghan businessmen from this country, whose capital was estimated at $30 million.
"Unfortunately, we failed to attract this capital and embrace Afghan traders to invest in Iran,” he added.
Currently, Iran is facing a major challenge in attracting foreign investment. To address the issue, the Iranian government needs to come up with a comprehensive policy to ensure that Afghan business owners can legally run their businesses and other economic activities without facing hurdles. In the past, the bank accounts of Afghan citizens were blocked for vague reasons, which was a big blow to foreign investment, the news agency wrote.
The estimated assets of Afghan businessmen and companies operating in Khorasan Razavi Province is around $1 billion, according to the announcement of the Association of Afghan Economic Players in the northeastern Iranian province.
To capitalize on the existing opportunity by providing work permits, visas and license to Afghan citizens, Iran can attract more foreign investors from Afghanistan, the region and beyond, the report said.
It concluded by saying Iran is home to thousands of Afghan citizens, including business people, students and refugees. Besides the increasing problems currently facing Afghan refugees, they have lived in peace and harmony for many years in Iran.
