Afghan authorities have broken ground on a significant new trading center for petroleum and gas dealers in the northern province of Balkh, according to information from Xinhua, China’s state news agency.
The 5-acre facility is being constructed in Mazar-e-Sharif, the provincial capital, with an investment of $15 million USD, Xinhua reported on Sunday, citing the official Bakhtar News Agency.
Sayed Karim Hashemi, head of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment, stated that the government has established a secure and conducive environment for investment. He emphasized that business leaders are collaborating with authorities to advance the nation’s economic development, according to Xinhua’s report.
Numerous petroleum and liquefied gas traders have welcomed the new facility as an important development for market regulation, service enhancement, and national economic progress, Xinhua noted.
Balkh province holds strategic importance in Afghanistan’s energy sector, playing a vital role in oil and gas refining, as well as trade with Central Asian nations through its control of the strategic Hairatan port, according to the report. /// nCa, 17 December 2025