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KABUL: Iran opened a trade corridor to the Central Asian states using Afghan soil as passage, with the first trucks of Iranian products arrived in Uzbekistan border on Tuesday via Afghanistan.
The corridor was launched based on the International Road Transport (TIR) convention.
Wahid Qawanj, spokesman of the ministry of transportation said Tuesday that the Iranian products include tea and tires. He said that Afghan trucks are used to transport the goods in the Afghan soil under the TIR convention.
Iranian exports would also target Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan via Afghan soil in the near future, according to Qawanj, who said that expansion and strengthening of transit with the neighboring and regional countries were the government’s priorities, hoping that other neighboring states would also use Afghanistan as a passage for their merchandise.
He called the aim of the use of Afghan soil to connect Central Asia to Southern Asian nations.
Mostafa Ayati, an Iranian transportation official has told the country’s official news agency (IRNA) that Afghan transit would be the shortest and cheapest that could play an important role for the expansion of trade and regional cooperation as well as for stability in the war-hit country.
According to Ayati, the transit road would help employment and increase in income.
Qawanj said that the trade corridor was part of economic cooperation plan demanded by Kabul to establish a trade road between Iran and Central Asia via Afghanistan.
