Daily Times

Sales of Afghanistan’s ancient carpet-weaving industry have dropped by half in the past year as war with Taliban militants heats up and neighbouring Pakistan clamps down on border traffic.

Prized by buyers as much for their artistry as utility, carpets are still a chief export of the impoverished nation, but their share has shrunk to six percent from 27 percent within less than a decade.

War, poverty and the transport constraints of a landlocked country have shredded sales for an industry that experts say dates back at least 2,500 years. Legend holds that Alexander the Great sent a carpet from the area to his mother.

At a factory in Kabul, the capital, women weave on looms while men in dust-masks sort heaps of wool.

“We have invited a lot (of buyers),” said Diljam Manan Qassimy, a manager at the factory, Afghanistan Rugs and Carpet Center.

“But they say, ‘No, it is impossible to come, because of the blood and security problems.’ This is the sad tragedy.”

Violence has surged in Kabul, with attacks in the last year ranging from a truck bomb that killed at least 80 people and an ambulance bomb that killed 100, to a hotel raid that killed 20.

Carpets ranked fourth among Afghanistan’s legal exports at $38 million in the 2016-17 fiscal year, its Central Statistics Organization says. More than 85 percent went to Pakistan.

The export figure dropped by more than half from $89.5 million a year earlier. That in turn was a plunge from more peaceful times eight years earlier, when exports stood at $150 million.

Sales prospects are no brighter at home, as few Afghans can afford carpets that cost between $70 and $250 per square metre, outstripping the average monthly income.

Landlocked Nation’s Woes

Reliance on Pakistan and its seaports leaves Afghan sellers vulnerable to frequent border control changes over the neighbours’ mutual accusations of failing to rein in cross-border militant attacks.

Last year, a major border crossing at Torkham closed for 40 days, Qassimy said.

Traders from Pakistan can earn a premium ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent by buying Afghan carpets and re-exporting them, said Pervez Hussain, who owns a Pakistani retailer, Afghan Carpets.

“People don’t go to Afghanistan, and their washing methods are not that good, so the carpets come to Pakistan and are washed here and are exported from here,” he said. Both countries’ industries benefit by working together, he added.

“There are a lot of big Afghan traders who are in Pakistan and they export directly from here,” he said. Qassimy’s Kabul factory has found ways to sell carpets to Australian, British and German buyers by opening showrooms in those countries. But his costs for air transport are triple those of a typical Pakistani vendor, who can use his country’s seaports instead.

Published in Daily Times, April 13^th 2018.