Chinese Investors Attend Expo, Seek Investment in Afghanistan

Chinese investors at a joint expo in Kabul on Friday said they are willing to invest in Afghanistan if they are provided the environment by the Afghan government, according to the private sector representatives and organizers of the event.

The organizer of the event, Yuming Hui, a Chinese citizen who has lived in the country for the last 20 years, said he has invited eight investors from China to attend the exhibition so that they are encouraged to invest in Afghanistan.

“You can see that eight Chinese investors are here (at the exhibition) to do consultations and find out which areas they can invest in and what type of investment and factories are required in Afghanistan,” he said.

The private sector representatives said that such events will encourage foreign investors to invest in Afghanistan and that it will boost the job market in the country.

“Our Chinese friends have planned to establish three factories in the country,” said Rahimullah Samandar, the CEO of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries. “They have already imported machinery for two of them.”

The business community suggested that China’s visa issuance to Afghan investors should be eased as it would boost trade relations between the two countries.

“We ask China’s government to ease the issuance of visas for us,” the deputy head of the chamber, Mohammad Yunis Mohmand, said.

An official of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that such exhibitions will support the private sector in many ways, including in providing them a vast environment for investment.

“They (Chinese investors) will support the private sector in different areas, including investment, industrial parks and providing investment opportunities in various areas,” the head of the exhibitions department of the ministry, Ehsanullah Pazir, said.

Afghanistan exported $60 million worth of goods to China last year while it imported goods and commodities worth $1 billion during this period, according to figures by the chamber of commerce and industries.

The private sector said there is a huge trade balance deficit between Afghanistan and China but suggested that it can be reduced by expanding trade and economic relations between the two countries.