RTANEWS — broadcast
20260825 050000 UTC
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[00:00:00] which is Syria, the Israeli forces must withdraw to the areas
[00:00:03] that were under its control before December 8, 2024.
[00:00:07] We have reached the end of the news for this hour. Thank you for being with us.
[00:00:10] Have a good time. Goodbye. In the name of God, the Great and Exalted.
[00:00:14] Dear viewers, welcome to the program
[00:01:00] "Kavosh" with me, Karimullah Ebrahimi. The economic and trade
[00:01:03] relations between Afghanistan and Iran have been expanding
[00:01:07] in recent years. In the latest move, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment
[00:01:10] and the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture
[00:01:13] have agreed on a memorandum of cooperation.
[00:01:17] This memorandum is expected to be signed
[00:01:20] in Kabul simultaneously with the visit of a delegation
[00:01:23] from Iran. The two sides also discussed
[00:01:27] the expansion of trade relations, investment opportunities, and existing
[00:01:30] challenges in Tehran. Therefore,
[00:01:34] we will talk more about this topic, but before that, two questions.
[00:01:38] What new opportunities does this memorandum create
[00:01:41] for increasing trade and investment between Afghanistan and
[00:01:45] Iran? And finally, to implement the agreement
[00:01:49] and remove the existing obstacles
[00:01:52] that were mentioned in this discussion in Tehran for traders
[00:01:56] of both countries, what specific measures
[00:02:00] should be taken? These challenges led to great opportunities
[00:02:03] for both sides. We will discuss all these issues here in the program.
[00:02:07] Fortunately, we are joined here in the studio by Mr.
[00:02:10] Mohammad Tavous Farzad, an economic expert,
[00:02:14] who is present here in the studio. Mr. Farzad, welcome and thank you for being here.
[00:02:18] Do you think that cooperation in four specific
[00:02:21] sectors such as trade, industries, mines, and agriculture,
[00:02:25] which was the main topic of discussion between the two sides in Tehran,
[00:02:28] how much can it affect both sides from an economic perspective?
[00:02:32] In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Hello, Mr. Ebrahimi,
[00:02:35] and the technical team.
[00:02:39] Good time to you, viewers. You see, Mr. Ebrahimi,
[00:02:43] when Afghanistan's trade with Pakistan
[00:02:46] was closed. This means
[00:02:49] that the wrong policies that Pakistan adopted,
[00:02:52] whenever they had a political issue with Afghanistan, they would
[00:02:55] put pressure on trade.
[00:02:57] They would put pressure on immigrants,
[00:03:00] and finally, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan decided
[00:03:04] to find alternative ways for Afghanistan's trade,
[00:03:08] meaning exports and imports, to get out of
[00:03:11] Pakistan's economic and trade monopoly.
[00:03:15] The measures that were taken, trips were made to various countries.
[00:03:18] High-ranking officials of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan traveled to Central Asian countries,
[00:03:22] China, Russia, Gulf countries, India, various countries.
[00:03:26] Trips were made with Iran to find alternative
[00:03:30] ways for trade instead of Pakistan.
[00:03:33] Fortunately, currently, you see
[00:03:37] that the roads with Pakistan have been closed for months.
[00:03:40] But fortunately, we do not feel any shortage in the Afghan market.
[00:03:44] Our trade went to Iran, and a large part of Afghanistan's
[00:03:47] trade is currently with Iran, which is said to be about
[00:03:50] 35 billion dollars.
[00:03:53] That is the trade relationship between Afghanistan
[00:03:57] and Iran. Also, our trade with Central Asia
[00:04:02] is currently expanding and growing. You know
[00:04:06] that Central Asian countries have abundant natural resources
[00:04:10] and good resources for Afghanistan to have
[00:04:13] exports and imports with them. It can be a very good market
[00:04:16] for Afghanistan. Also, very effective measures
[00:04:19] were taken to find alternative ways
[00:04:23] for Afghanistan's trade, and fortunately, currently,
[00:04:26] as I said, Afghanistan is not facing any trade problems,
[00:04:30] and we are witnessing that Afghanistan
[00:04:34] is full of various goods
[00:04:37] and commodities, and there are no problems.
[00:04:40] Also, currently, a positive competition
[00:04:44] is underway in Afghanistan. You know that Iran is trying
[00:04:48] to reach Afghanistan, and Central Asian countries.
[00:04:51] Do you think what caused such
[00:04:55] diversity of views? What we are witnessing is that at least in the previous administration,
[00:04:58] such a view from countries and their way of interaction
[00:05:01] with Afghanistan was not the case. Mr. Ebrahim, you see,
[00:05:05] in the previous administration or during the republic,
[00:05:09] America was somehow dominant in Afghanistan, and they did not allow
[00:11:25] Afghanistan to have good political and economic relations
[00:11:29] with both Iran and Central Asian countries that are somehow
[00:11:32] under Russia's influence. This clearly
[00:11:34] caused Afghanistan's economic and political issues
[00:11:38] with Central Asian countries as well as with Iran
[00:11:41] to be somewhat diminished. When the Islamic
[00:11:44] Emirate of Afghanistan came to power and a victory occurred here,
[00:11:48] these countries took advantage of this opportunity to come to Afghanistan
[00:11:52] and achieve their economic goals
[00:11:55] in Afghanistan and through Afghanistan to other countries as well.
[00:11:58] You know that currently for Central Asian countries
[00:12:02] and for Iran, a second good opportunity
[00:12:06] that has arisen is that the ways that we were connected
[00:12:09] with Pakistan or our trade with Pakistan
[00:12:13] has been blocked or stopped with Pakistan. They have also
[00:12:17] used that point that currently they have
[00:12:20] a good and friendly competition with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,
[00:12:24] and in addition to this, this path that was closed with Pakistan
[00:12:27] they considered it an opportunity for Central Asian countries,
[00:12:31] Iran, and other countries
[00:12:35] to use. We currently Afghanistan
[00:12:39] does not need countries, now countries need Afghanistan.
[00:12:43] From this point, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should use
[00:12:46] it and convince Iran to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
[00:12:50] This means that a big trade that it currently
[00:12:54] has with Afghanistan,
[00:13:25] extensive economic relations that it has with Afghanistan,
[00:13:28] the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan can tell them that
[00:13:32] we have an extensive trade,
[00:13:36] extensive economic relations. The Emirate
[00:13:39] can more officials
[00:13:43] will work on it and then such an action will start.
[00:13:46] So far, we have not seen such a thing from Iran.
[00:13:49] And there should be a discussion about what prevents Iran
[00:13:53] from recognizing Afghanistan.
[00:14:15] We have a vast trade, we have very good relations.
[00:14:18] Embassies exist in both countries.
[00:14:22] Economic and political relations exist.
[00:14:25] For example, Iran should talk about economic
[00:14:28] issues. Iran should talk about what obstacles
[00:14:32] it sees that it does not recognize Afghanistan.
[00:14:35] The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should also
[00:14:39] use these times and these opportunities.
[00:14:43] there should be obstacles for Afghan traders,
[00:14:47] why are there practically obstacles for Afghan traders
[00:14:51] within Iran? Mr. Ebrahimi, you see. First,
[00:15:29] the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan should do an assessment
[00:15:32] of which sector Iran has a free hand
[00:15:36] in, or in which sector it has good experts,
[00:15:39] or in which sector it has good technology.
[00:15:43] They should see in which part
[00:15:46] Afghanistan can cooperate with Iran. First,
[00:15:49] this identification should be done to see
[00:15:53] in which part Iran can cooperate with Afghanistan.
[00:15:57] For example, if Iran has no experience in a certain sector,
[00:16:01] if the sector or other countries talk
[00:16:04] about exempting Chabahar from Iran's issues,
[00:16:37] for example, America should exempt Chabahar
[00:16:41] as a separate section so that
[00:16:44] investment can be made, and the facilities
[00:16:47] that are needed for traders, for example, bank representatives
[00:16:51] should be there, logistical centers
[00:16:54] should be there, hotels should be there,
[00:16:58] and other issues that you mentioned are not seen in Chabahar
[00:17:01] because the grounds are not seen. It is needed
[00:17:04] that it expands and grows,
[00:17:08] because day by day, we see that trade with
[00:17:12] Iran is expanding and growing. It is hoped
[00:17:16] that facilities will also be created in this regard. In the second step,
[00:17:19] there should be visa facilities for Afghan traders,
[00:17:23] and a very important point is that large
[00:17:27] logistical centers should be built in the territory of Afghanistan
[00:17:30] and Iran, so that when we
[00:17:34] export to Iran, if there is no
[00:17:37] good market for our goods in Iran, we can
[00:17:40] store our export goods in those centers
[00:17:43] and send them to European countries through Iran,
[00:17:47] for example, to India or Turkey, to other countries.
[00:17:50] For this, large logistical centers
[00:17:54] should be allowed in Iran for Afghanistan,
[00:17:57] so that trade centers and logistical centers can be established
[00:18:01] for Afghanistan, so that they can place their export
[00:18:05] materials there and then export them to other countries.
[00:18:08] And the third issue is that a list
[00:18:12] of Afghanistan's export items that are to be traded with Iran
[00:18:16] should be identified, what we should export to Iran.
[00:18:19] First, both countries should talk, Mr. Ebrahimi,
[00:18:23] about which product Afghanistan has a suitable
[00:18:27] ground for in Iran or for which there is a market.
[00:18:30] This should be identified, and then a list
[00:18:34] of items that Afghanistan can export to Iran.
[00:19:07] The discussion of extracting fuel resources such as oil and gas,
[00:19:11] Iran has the most experience in what we see, yes,
[00:19:14] in various issues that can help Afghanistan, for example,
[00:19:17] in the matter of cement factories
[00:19:20] and also in the matter of agriculture. They can, because Iran
[00:19:24] has very good experience in agriculture,
[00:19:27] and also in the matter
[00:19:31] of, for example, mining. Those mines that Iran itself
[00:19:35] can extract, for example, oil and gas,
[00:19:38] they have very extensive experience in this area.
[00:19:42] Capabilities can be developed in the extraction of oil and gas
[00:19:45] in Afghanistan. However, it should not be like the Aynak
[00:19:49] project, which was given to the Chinese years ago.
[00:19:52] This Aynak project was given, but unfortunately, no practical
[00:19:56] work has been done on it yet. If these mines
[00:19:59] had been extracted 18 years ago,
[00:20:03] we would have gained a very large income from this project.
[00:20:07] But unfortunately, it has been years since China
[00:20:10] has not started working on this project.
[00:20:14] Attention should be paid to this point that Iran
[00:20:18] should be given the mines
[00:20:20] in which they specifically have experience,
[00:20:23] and a commitment should be obtained from them
[00:20:26] that they must start the work of these projects
[00:20:30] at the time they are told. If we give them the opportunity
[00:20:34] and they don't work on it, it will not be beneficial for Afghanistan.
[00:20:37] I think that the influence of Iran
[00:20:40] in giving the extraction of our mines
[00:20:43] should be paid much attention to,
[00:20:47] so that those mines
[00:20:57] can be extracted. And also, a very strong commitment
[00:21:00] should be obtained from Iran that the Iranian companies
[00:21:04] that come to Afghanistan must start the work of these projects
[00:21:08] at the time they are told. I think that somehow
[00:21:11] Iran wants to have influence
[00:21:14] in Afghanistan's mines as well. At this point,
[00:21:17] the cautionary points you mentioned,
[00:21:20] what are the cautionary points in your opinion,
[00:21:24] or what is the principle of economic
[00:21:27] recommendations that we should at least focus on
[00:21:30] and work seriously on? Earlier, regarding the extraction
[00:21:33] of oil and gas resources, you said that Iran has extensive experience
[00:21:36] and can be a good partner for Afghanistan, because the environment
[00:21:40] and geography of Afghanistan are very similar to Iran.
[00:21:43] And Iran, do you think that only
[00:21:47] economic experts for the extraction of fuel resources
[00:21:51] such as oil and gas should enter Afghanistan,
[00:21:55] Iranian experts, or that only its plan
[00:21:58] should be there, and all technical matters and whatever is needed
[00:22:02] should be carried out by Afghans within Afghanistan?
[00:22:05] To the extent that we can use our own capabilities,
[00:22:09] it is good if it is Iran's plan or program,
[00:22:13] but our own experts should work, just like once,
[00:22:17] in our insurance sector,
[00:22:21] foreign experts were brought in, and they were told that you
[00:22:24] must train Afghans so that Afghans who reach
[00:22:28] that level or gain capacity
[00:22:31] should leave Afghanistan. That was the case until
[00:22:34] Afghans reached that sector,
[00:22:38] reached that stage where they could cover
[00:22:41] our insurance sector. After that, they were sent away.
[00:22:44] We can say that the sector
[00:22:47] in which Iran has good experience. with his sister