Increase investment by Afghan businessmen in Iran; “50% of foreign companies in Iran are Afghans”

After officials from Iran and the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, Mines and Agriculture announced that Afghan businessmen have invested billions of dollars in the country, Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Investment officials said that the increase in trade with the country has led to increased Afghan investment in the country.

Khanjan Alkozi, a member of the chamber’s board of directors, told Azadi Radio on Thursday, without providing details on the investment amounts and the number of Afghan companies in Iran:

“Our trade workload and load with Iran in the region has increased, that’s why investments have increased, conditions are good, energy is cheap, there are other facilities, Afghan products are being transferred to the world market, that’s why people are investing there”.

Kuz said that the security situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated in recent years. After the US military withdrew from Afghanistan, people have transferred their funds to Turkey, Iran, Central Asian countries and other countries.

Mahmoud Siadat, chairman of the Iran-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, told ISNA news agency on Wednesday, stressing the importance of joint activities between Iran and Afghanistan, that Afghan businessmen have invested more than $3 billion in Iran.

He also added that more than 50 percent of companies registered by foreigners in Iran are owned by Afghans, and the largest number of foreign investors in Iran are Afghans.

Meanwhile, some factory owners in Afghanistan have also pointed out their problems and said the lack of markets to sell their products has forced investors to flee to other countries.

Mohammad Tariq, owner of a boot factory in Kabul, told Radio Azadi:

“The lack of a market provides an opportunity for people to bring capital to Iran and start their own business there, because we work in Tawan, we are already in debt to the people and sellers of raw materials, our capital is halved because there is no market, instead of supporting the government, it has reduced tariffs on Chinese goods.”

Earlier, Saud Bakhtiar, another Afghan investor in Iran, told RFE/RL that they do not have the conditions to invest in Afghanistan.

He cited the closure of girls’ schools as one of the reasons he did not return to Afghanistan.

The Taliban government, however, has maintained that it provides investment opportunities for domestic and foreign investors in the country. The Taliban say they are trying to get Afghan businessmen to transfer capital to Afghanistan.

Economists also call the consequences of capital flight from Afghanistan catastrophic for a variety of reasons.

One of the informants, Abdul Nasir Rashtiya, told Radio Azadi:

“Poverty and unemployment are among the negative consequences of not investing in Afghanistan, and this unemployment cannot be solved by a can of oil or a bag of flour. When investment is made in the country, poverty and unemployment will decrease.”

Rashtiya said that the main problems facing investment in Afghanistan are the increasing insecurity and corruption in Afghanistan, the hostile plans of Afghanistan’s neighbors to hinder the country’s economic development, and some political factors in the current situation.

Economic experts warn that if the government does not address problems in this area, the country’s economic situation may worsen and poverty and unemployment will have a greater impact on the people.