Afghan-Iranian traders meet in Herat

(MENAFN- Afghanistan Times) AT-KABUL: To boost trade and help improve economic relations, a number of Afghan and Iranian traders on Sunday met in Islam Qala of Herat province, in which both side discussed ways to boost trade exchanges, Farsnews, an Iranian News Agency, has been reported.

A number of Afghan traders and 20 Iranian economic activists reviewed ways for taking serious steps to improve trade relations between the two neighbors.

'One-third of Afghanistan's needs are supplied by Iran through Dugharoon border point, Taybad,' Governor of Taybad Hossein Sherafati-Rad said.

In a relevant development in June, President Ashraf Ghani, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, underlined the need for expanding mutual cooperation in different fields.

During the meeting in Kazakhstan's capital, Ghani, and Zarif explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral relations in both political and economic fields.

President Ghani also called on all the governments to join in the fight against the terrorists.

Zarif, for his part, referred to strategic talks in Kabul, saying that working groups have been formed to implement the agreements signed earlier between Tehran and Kabul.

Both sides also exchanged views on the ongoing crisis among the Persian Gulf littoral states, urging them to solve their problems through dialogue.

Moreover, recently the Afghanistan's Ministry of Commerce and Industries has said with the inauguration of the first phase of Iran's Chabahar port, the Afghan business community is now able to export its merchandise internationally.

Ministry spokesman, Musafir Qoqandi, said currently heavily loaded ships are sailing to the port with the capacity of over 60 tons of goods. The Iranian government has pledged to increase the port capacity to over 100 tons in the near future, he added.

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