Iran, Afghanistan Target Trade Increase

Iran and Afghanistan are targeting US$10 billion in annual bilateral trade within three years, an Iranian trade official said Monday.

Iran and Afghanistan are targeting US$10 billion in annual bilateral trade within three years, an Iranian trade official said Monday, with current exchanges standing at US$2.7 billion and Afghanistan now ranking as Iran's fifth-largest commercial partner.

Hossein Roustaei, Iran's commercial attaché in Kabul, said bilateral trade reached US$2.7 billion in the past Iranian calendar year. Afghanistan currently ranks as the Islamic Republic's fifth-largest trade partner, he said, according to Iran's Trade Development Organisation.

He said the two neighbours expect to reach the US$10 billion target by strengthening industrial and mining cooperation over the next three years. The announcement signals deepening economic ties between Tehran and Kabul, with Iran exporting fuel, construction materials, food products and industrial goods to Afghanistan, which serves as a key land route for Iranian goods into Central Asia. - Mehr