Gutierrez touts trade progress in Afghanistan

Gutierrez touts trade progress in Afghanistan

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U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said the Bush administration is confident that Afghanistan, emerging from the ashes of war, is starting to realize the economic benefits of bilateral trade with the United States.
   “We want to help Afghanistan develop its private sector and free market economy,” Gutierrez told attendees at a Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce meeting in Washington Tuesday.
   In July, the United States and Afghanistan entered a Joint Statement on Commercial Cooperation. Under this agreement, the two governments have increased cooperation in export promotion, agribusiness, commercial regulations, standards and use of the Generalized System of Preferences.
   GSP provides duty-free treatment for about 5,000 types of exports from Afghanistan and other developing countries. These exports include a range of goods, such as marble, candles, gemstones, jewelry, wood items, carpets and rugs.
   In addition, the United States helped set up the Afghanistan Investment Reconstruction Task Force with a mandate to promote initiatives to strengthen bilateral business ties between the two countries. The task force is also arranging the third visit of an Afghan rug business delegation to the United States in January.
   According to the Commerce Department, U.S.-Afghan trade reached $463 million, up 40 percent over 2005. For the first eight months of 2007, total trade between the countries is more than $376 million, a 34 percent increase over the same period in 2006.