Afghanistan To Export $2.2bn Worth of Pine Nuts To China

Afghanistan has signed $2.2 billion worth of contracts with various Chinese firms for the export of 62,000 tons of line nuts in the next 5 years.

Addressing a press conference in Kabul, Hashmatullah Ghafoori, deputy minister for irrigation and natural resources, announced that additional contracts, worth $9 million, have been inked for the export of pistachio, almond and walnuts.

The exports would be made via land-route from Afghanistan through the Central Asian states to China.

Afghanistan’s largest foreign investor, China has
China has proposed to join hands with Afghanistan in the Belt and Road Initiative by launching direct flights and cargo train services, exploring the possibility of cross-boundary railways and optical cables and extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan.
In March this year, the landmark Kabul Operation Center was launched to facilitate trade between the two countries, and raise annual bilateral trade to $2 billion by 2020.

China is one of Afghanistan’s most significant trading partners, and bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached $544 million in 2017, according to the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs.

The Afghanistan-China Air Corridor was opened in November 2018 to intensify bilateral trade between the two countries. Afghanistan is seeking to export pine nuts, the demand for which has increased in the Chinese market, through the corridor.