The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has reported that in the first six months of the current solar year, saffron and heng worth nearly $80 million dollars have been exported from Afghanistan.

Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, the spokesperson for the ministry, said that a large quantity of the country’s saffron and heng has been exported to India, Pakistan, China, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and the United States.

Heng and saffron are considered valuable plants of Afghanistan, with most of their production being exported abroad.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce added: "In the first six months of the 1403 solar year, 617 tons of heng worth $57 million were exported, with most of Afghanistan's exports going to India, Uzbekistan, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran."

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock, given the regional importance of saffron and heng, has stated that to increase the export of these two agricultural products, necessary facilities should be provided to farmers and exporters.

Wasim Safi, the CEO of the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock, told TOLOnews: "The revenue is very good, and it requires our support. This support should be in a way that helps with marketing and finding new markets."

"Considering the significant value of saffron and heng, if customs tariffs on these export items are reduced and efforts are made to create large global markets for these plants, the export level of these two products will undoubtedly increase," said Mir Shakir Yaqoubi, an economic expert.

This comes as Afghan saffron was recognized this year for the ninth time as the highest-quality saffron in the world by the International Taste Institute, based in Belgium, in a global competition.