KABUL – Cross-border trade in Afghanistan increased from $2 to $8 billion in six years, with customs revenue up from $50 million to nearly $400 million, according to World Bank estimates at the close of phase one of a $32 million customs reform project.
Years of conflict severely weakened Afghanistan’s customs and border management infrastructure. In 2003 a truck could wait for up to seven hours at the Afghan-Pakistani border. Today, they can be back on the road in less than two hours. Improvements in infrastructure, communications and administration systems have established a more efficient and transparent customs system and facilitated Afghanistan’s international trade.
A large group of bilateral and multilateral donors are involved in strengthening the capacity of the Afghan Government to effectively manage is borders. Since 2003, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNOPS have been working with the Afghan Customs Department on a customs modernization and trade facilitation project. The project is financed through interest-free credit and grants by the World Bank.
UNOPS role as executing agent includes construction of parking, roads and buildings such as the new customs and revenue headquarters on Jalalabad Road in Kabul. UNOPS also partnered with UNCTAD, UNIDO and the Afghan Customs Department in the implementation of an electronic customs processing systems and the development of customs legislation, regulation, and procedures.
For the Afghan people this project brings hope of re-establishing the position of Afghanistan as a main trading point along the historic Silk Route connecting the East with the West and improving trading relations with its neighbours.