In a meeting with the deputy ambassador of Iran in Kabul, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, stressed the need to facilitate trade between the two neighboring countries, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.

The deputy ambassador of Iran, Sayed Hassan Mortazavi, pledged Iran’s cooperation with Afghanistan.

The deputy spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, Zia Ahmad Takal, said there will be a need for the import of more commodities in the coming winter.

“This is the time to increase trade and he (Muttaqi) called for the facilitation of trade and transit,” Takal said.

Iran’s deputy ambassador said that Iran will attempt to help Afghanistan in trade and economic development.

“We will help in certain fields, especially in self-sufficiency and in the creation of job opportunities for the people of Afghanistan and in the activation of trade and economic areas in Afghanistan,” Murtazavi said.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) said that Afghanistan’s trade rate with Iran has surpassed more than $350 million over the past six months.

“Our export to Iran has been $5 million. We had imports worth $351 million,” said Akhundzada Abdul Salam, a spokesman for the MoIC.

Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said that the banking challenges need to be addressed to boost trade with regional countries.

“We call on all banks to connect transactions with the neighboring countries and to the world. We call on the international community to support us in trade relations with the regional and world countries,” said Mohammad Younus Momand, deputy head of the ACCI.