Dozens of cargo trucks left Afghanistan on Monday in what marked the first consignment of exports to Europe since the Islamic Emirate took over the country in August last year.
The convoy left from the western province of Herat and will travel through the Lapis Lazuli route, an international trade route that was inaugurated in 2018. The shipment involves nearly 30 trucks carrying commodities such as pistachios, sesame, cumin, carpets, and almonds, said Yonus Qazizada, the provincial director of trade and investment in Herat.
He said that the commodities worth $5 million are bound for European and Arab countries.
The Lapis Lazuli corridor begins from Torghundi in Herat and continues to Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.
This is the second Afghan convoy of exports through Lapis Lazuli since the corridor was inaugured in December 2018.
The first convoy carried dried fruits, herbs, and textiles.
Meanwhile, the union of exporters in the western zone said exports increased by 40 percent in the 1400 solar year as compared to the previous year.
“This suggests that expectations have grown and economic activities have increased. Unlike the propaganda that is spread, it is a great achievement to dispatch a convoy abroad,” said Mohammad Rafiq Shahir, head of the experts’ council of Herat.
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