With the help of the Afghanistan mining sector, the Taliban government announced that it has signed $7 billion worth of mining deals with Chinese, Iranian, Turkish and British companies over the past week.
According to Shahabuddin Dilawar, the Taliban government’s minister for mining and petroleum, gold, copper, iron, lead and zinc will be extracted in the Afghan provinces of Takhar, Ghor, Herat and Logar under seven agreements signed on Thursday last week.
Shahabuddin Dilawar further said these agreements will bring a total investment of about $ 7 billion and it will provide employment to thousands of people in the country. The petroleum minister said an agreement with a Chinese company to extract gold in Takhar would give the Taliban government 65 percent of its earnings in five years.
He added the other agreements involving Turkish, Iranian and British investments for iron ore mining and processing in Herat would give the government a 13 percent share over 30 years. Shahabuddin Dilawar said that these agreements will make Afghanistan one of the iron-exporting countries.
Earlier this year, a Chinese firm signed an oil extraction deal with the Taliban administration. Beijing has also recently expressed interest in investing in lithium mining in Afghanistan. Landlocked Afghanistan reportedly has more than $1 trillion worth of precious minerals, including the much-needed lithium deposits, which are used in rechargeable batteries.
It is being told that due to these agreements, about 50,000 people in Afghanistan will get employment opportunities from these agreements.
World Bank acknowledges improvement in Afghan economy
Afghan Taliban have stabilized Afghanistan’s economy and increased trade with neighboring and other countries. The World Bank said in its report last month that inflation in Afghanistan has been declining for the last two months. “The supply of goods is substantial, and the demand is low because it is fulfilling its needs domestically,” the report says. World Bank report added the value of Afghani currency increased against major commercial currencies during the first seven months of 2023, while in a few days the value of the Afghan currency has further increased by about 2.5 percent against the US dollar.
