Shafi Azam, the Director of Economic Relations at the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that Afghanistan has found new international markets for its exports following the closure of trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In a post on his X account on Sunday, Shafi Azam wrote that between 2021 and 2024, around 60 percent of Afghanistan’s exports were destined for Pakistan. However, after the trade routes were closed, Afghan traders turned toward Central Asia, Russia, China, India, the Gulf countries, and Europe.
He claimed that trade restrictions have diversified Afghanistan’s export markets and forced Afghan traders to improve the quality and packaging of their products to meet international standards.
Trade routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained closed for nearly nine months. Border crossings, including Torkham and Chaman, were shut after tensions escalated between the two countries over the Durand Line dispute.
According to data from the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce, the closure of the routes has caused financial losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars for both countries.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
