Nooruddin Azizi; Acting Minister of Industry and Trade said that countries in the region, including China, Russia and Iran, are interested in investing in Afghanistan.
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Azizi said that the countries of the region have expressed interest in investing in some projects, including the creation of industrial parks and thermal power plants.
He said: "Iran is very interested in extraterritorial cultivation. He wants to make a big investment in the lands of Afghanistan which are close to the waters of Afghanistan. Also, China wants to invest in this field. Alhamdulillah, some other neighboring countries are applying to invest in Afghanistan's agriculture, livestock and industry programs.
Mr. Azizi says that recently the licenses issued to domestic and foreign investors were generally in the "big mines" sector.
Extraterritorial cultivation is cultivation in another country and import of its product, especially for countries that are facing drought, and it is expanding as a new method in recent years. This is of vital importance for a country like Afghanistan, whose main pillar of the economy is income from agriculture and land.
Although Afghanistan is an agricultural country, it has favorable climate and soil for the development of agriculture. But in terms of industry, resources, infrastructure, and scientific methods of planting and harvesting, it is still considered a backward country, and most of its agriculture is based on traditional methods, which have very little economic feedback compared to modern, scientific, and industrial agriculture.
For example, almost no major and fundamental work has been done to develop agriculture based on water, soil and weather in Afghanistan. In other words, many farmers still do not know which crop is suitable for them in which season and has better yield than other crops. Regarding the water, soil and weather of which province, district, zone and agricultural region is better for what kind of crops and has more valuable fruits, from the scientific point of view, not many studies and researches have been done and the farmers themselves based on the lived experience and the savings of their ancestors in They act on the basis that in some cases, it may not be true.
Another point is that Afghanistan is a landlocked country with no direct access to sustainable water sources. Climate change on a global scale has also imposed heavy costs on agriculture in our country, led to long and several-year droughts, and has severely affected the agriculture sector. Therefore, one of the biggest priorities in the current situation is the management of the country's water resources and its productivity in line with the growth and development of agriculture as the main pillar of the national economy.
In this field, the Islamic Republic of Iran and other neighboring countries of Afghanistan have gained valuable experiences and achieved great scientific progress due to the geography, climate, nature and soil almost similar to Afghanistan.
Most of these countries, especially Iran, are now considered to be the centers of production, supply and export of agricultural products needed by regional and world markets; because over the years, they have been able to identify their capacities, fields and resources and provide the scientific and industrial infrastructures and needs needed to transform power into action.
Therefore, now the platform is well prepared for Afghanistan's neighbors to play a constructive role by investing in the virgin and untouched economy of the country, especially in the field of agriculture and extra-territorial cultivation, and in this way, Afghanistan will make a leap in economic development and modernization. The traditional system of agriculture and land ownership and other areas of the simple and undeveloped economy should be achieved and the neighboring big investors should benefit from this passage.
It is expected that within the scope of the forward-looking policies of the officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and other related institutions, the huge capacities of the neighboring countries in the field of economic growth and development of the country will be used as soon as possible, and in this way, May our country be on the path of progress and economic prosperity, and the achievement of this goal should be the basis for the establishment of stable peace and security, and the prevention of war, violence, bloodshed, and extremism.