Afghanistan offers US access to its mineral resources worth $1 trillion

Afghanistan is offering the US access to mineral resources, in an overture to the Trump administration as the de facto Taliban government pitches for relief from sanctions and the release of frozen assets to support one of the world's poorest countries, Report informs via the Financial Times.

The bid for investment comes as the Taliban has stepped up diplomatic efforts five years after its return to power and the withdrawal of US-led Nato forces, which President Donald Trump called "the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country."

Asked about his relationship with the Trump administration, Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said Afghanistan would "absolutely" welcome US investments in sectors including mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade.

"Relations between Afghanistan and the United States should not be assessed through the lens of the past 20 years of war, but rather on the basis of future co-operation," Muttaqi told the FT in his office in Kabul.

"Our economic policy is open." Muttaqi did not say whether that pitch had been made directly to the White House. Geological surveys carried out by the US and the western-backed Afghan government estimate the country holds at least $1 trillion of mineral resources, including significant deposits of copper, iron ore, niobium, cobalt, gold and lithium, which remain largely untapped due to decades of conflict.

Since 2021, the Taliban has announced more than $7 billion of mining investments with countries including China and Iran for gold, gemstones and chromite, which is used in steelmaking.