The first ever air corridor between Afghanistan and Turkey was launched on Tuesday at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul by officials from Afghanistan and Turkey.
Commerce and industries minister Humayun Rasa; the agriculture, irrigation and livestock minister Nasir Ahmad Durani, chief executive officer of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries Atiqullah Nusrat, Turkey’s ambassador to Kabul Oguzhan Ertugrul and members of the private sector attended in the inauguration ceremony.
Officials spoke about Afghanistan-Turkey trade ties and the importance of the new air corridor.
Minister of Commerce and Industries Humayun Rasa said this is the first ever air corridor between Afghanistan and Turkey and the fourth corridor that Afghanistan has launched with different nations.
Rasa said the first cargo shipment to Turkey was 15 tons of Afghanistan goods, including carpets and dried fruit to the value of $103,000 USD.
Rasa said in the past few years Afghanistan’s imports against exports was unbalanced, but in the last four years progress has been made to rectify this.
Rasa said the National Unity Government (NUG), by establishing alternative trade and transit routes, such as Lapis Lazuli Route and air corridors between Kabul-New Delhi, Kabul-Mumbai and Kabul-Astana, addresses Afghanistan’s trade balance deficit.
According to Rasa, so far Afghanistan has exported goods valued over $20 million USD through the air corridors that have opened in the past year.
He added that in the near future a new trade agreement will be signed with Turkey which will increase Afghanistan’s exports to Turkey.
Turkey’s ambassador to Kabul, Oguzhan Ertugrul, meanwhile said the trade volume between Afghanistan and Turkey is very low adding that Kabul-Istanbul should increase its trade relations.
Statistics from the commerce and industries ministry shows that Afghanistan’s export volume in the last year increased from $614 million USD to $784 million USD and that this year they hope the amount will increase further.