Iran-Afghan to set up transport company to boost trade

Kabul: A joint Afghan-Iranian transportation company will be set up in the Iranian sea port of Chabahar in a bid to boost trade between the two countries.

Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) said the creation of the company would allow Afghan traders to export their goods across the Iranian borders to all parts of the world, including the United States of America.

Iran has a 51% and Afghanistan a 49% share in the company.

The southern sea port of Chabahar has already been connected to Afghanistan with a newly built road, a move which analysts say will boost trade between the two countries and allow Afghan goods to reach foreign markets without relying on Pakistan.

The new trade route will also allow Indian goods to reach Afghan and other Central Asian markets with greater ease. Pakistan refuses to let India export its goods through Pakistan.

The head of the CCI, Muhammad Qurban Haqjo, said: 'This joint Afghan-Iranian company will solve the Afghan merchants’ problems by allowing them to transport their goods through the Chabahar border to other parts of the world. We will try our best to set up other trade agencies in the region.'

The head of the economy department of the Iranian embassy in Kabul, Hamid Raza Toosi, said: “We are hopeful that the bilateral co-operation between Afghanistan and Iran will continue and that the creation of this international transportation company will increase the commercial relations between the two countries.