Afghanistan-Turkey air corridor formally inaugurated

KABUL and Turkey got open on Tuesday when the first Turkey-bound cargo plane with 15 tons of products left Kabul.

Before this, the Afghan government has opened two air corridors with India and one with Kazakhstan to help Afghan traders find access to global markets and increase exports.

It was the fourth air corridor to be opened with Turkey on Tuesday during a special ceremony where government officials, Turkish ambassador, officials of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) and a number of traders were present.

Commerce and Industries Minister Humayon Rasa, who attended the ceremony, said that 15 tons of products, including carpets, handicrafts, dried fruit and medical plants, were exported to Turkey on the first cargo flight.

He said Turkey’s Izmir city was a great market for Afghanistan minerals, particularly for marble. Exports from Afghanistan to Turkey would increase soon after signing a trilateral agreement between Afghanistan, Turkey and Iran in near future, he said.

Atiqullah Nasrat, ACCI operating chief, said Turkey was a potential market for Afghanistan exports and Afghan traders could export their goods against a good price using the air corridor.

The air corridor between Afghanistan and Turkey has the capacity of transporting 15 tons of goods per flight. Afghan products are exported not only to Turkey, but to European countries through that country.

Nasrat termed air corridors with other countries as important, saying the volume of annual Afghanistan exports to India had increased from $230 million to $380 million and fresh fruit exports increased by 11 times to that country.

Oğuzhan Ertuğrul, the Turkish envoy to Kabul, said: “We are here today to inaugurate Afghanistan-Turkey air corridor, Turkey is a strong supporter of Afghanistan.”

He said bilateral trade between Afghanistan and Turkey had a direct impact on partnership between the two countries. The trade volume between the two countries reached $108 million last year and efforts were being made to double the amount next year.

Officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries at the end of the ceremony said that another air corridor would be opened with Saudi Arabia soon.

Humayon Rasa said Afghanistan had been in trade deficit over the last several years, but this problem was being addressed with reformative efforts and statistics show Afghanistan exports increased from $7.2 billion to $8.4 billion in 2016.

mds/ma