Mohammad Younes Momand, the head of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI), said that his country and Russia and Moscow will sign a memorandum of agreement on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia concerning Afghanistan's import of Russian wheat, fuel, and gas.
"We will sign a Memorandum of Understanding here at the Chamber of Commerce of Russia tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing you here. Here, businessmen from Afghanistan and Russia work well together,” said Mohammad Younes Momand.
“As you are aware, Russia and Afghanistan have close commercial, cultural, and social ties. The goal is to maintain our trading links with everyone, including Russia, with whom we have friendly relations,” Momand added.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) stated that Afghanistan would be short more than two million tons of wheat this year and that it is in contact with other countries to import wheat.
"This year we need to import around two million tons of wheat from outside, but we have timely agreements with foreign nations to import this wheat,” said Mesbah-uddin Mustaeen, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock.
According to the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock, the drought is expected to reduce wheat production this year, and traders will be required to fill the void.
"The ground should be paved for them to go to Kazakhstan and buy from businessmen so that trade between the two countries continues and the nation's problem can be solved," said Mirwais Hajizada, a member of the Chamber of Agriculture and Livestock.
Afghanistan needs seven million tons of wheat annually, of which fewer than five million are domestically produced, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI). (ILKHA)