The changeover of state power in Afghanistan may not affect business with Bangladesh as the bilateral trade volume is not that significant, said local businesspeople yesterday.
They said they were not too worried about the trade.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan overthrowing the government of President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday.
Last fiscal year, Bangladesh exported goods worth $8.64 million to Afghanistan, which was a rise of 49.30 per cent from $5.76 million in fiscal 2019-20, according to data from Export Promotion Bureau.
Almost all of it were pharmaceutical products. For instance, in fiscal 2019-20 the total earnings from merchandise shipment to Afghanistan were $5.77 million, of which $4.86 million were pharmaceutical products.
The other products include vegetables, textile fibres, paper yarn, cereals, flour, sugar and electrical items. On the other hand, the balance of trade is in favour of Afghanistan as Bangladesh avails from it a lot of fruits, nuts, textile and textile articles, plastic goods and rubber items, said data from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).
For instance, in fiscal 2019-20, Bangladesh imported goods worth $9.2 million from Afghanistan and of it, some $7.2 million was paid for fruits and nuts.
“It is very difficult to exactly state what will happen to bilateral trade…as the nature of the new government in Afghanistan is yet to be known,” said Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, senior vice-president of the FBCCI.
“The future of trade…is depending on the decision of the new government in Afghanistan,” he told The Daily Star.
Pointing out that Afghanistan is a landlocked country, he said most of its trade took place through border land ports with neighbouring countries like Iran and Pakistan.
The Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a regional trade body of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), could have been a good platform for trade negotiations among members, including Afghanistan, Babu also said.
However, the Saarc chamber’s activities are not that much visible although the platform had very good potentials for boosting regional trade, he said.
“We are not that much worried about the trade with Afghanistan as our export to this country is not that high,” said Mohammad Hatem, first vice-president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Bangladesh exported garment items worth $75,000 to it last year albeit indirectly through Dubai as direct shipments of apparel items to Afghanistan are very rarely made, he said.
“We are also not worried about the current situation of Afghanistan as we do not export garments to Afghanistan,” he also said.
