The First Deputy PM met with officials of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Mining

Dec 29, 2021

First Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund met with officials of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Mining. Mr. Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund said that the private sector has important role in strengthening the economy of the country and reducing the level of unemployment, and added that the private sector has provided employment to about 1.5 million people in 5,000 factories, and the Islamic Emirate appreciates its performance. The First Deputy Prime Minister said that, fortunately, the private sector in Afghanistan has made good progress and several large industrial parks are organized across the country, which is a good thing for them.

"We are very grateful to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan for resolving most of our problems in such a short period of time," said Sherbaz Kaminzada, director of the Chamber of Industry and Mining. He added that the lack of permanent land, power outages, bank withdrawals, and a lack of a good market for private sector products abroad are some of the problems that they are faced with. He called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to address these issues, which would not only increase productivity but also create jobs for more people.

The meeting was attended by private sector officials from different provinces of the country, each of them mentioned their problems. Mr. Sherbaz Kaminzada said that Afghanistan is now self-sufficient in 76 different areas, and if the government provides them with a good environment, they are ready to export some items to other countries. "Countries in the region should treat us with mutual respect in trade and transportation," he said. According to him, some countries export to Afghanistan but do not buy goods from us in return. This is not in line with the principles of international trade.

Private sector officials also complained about the power outage and called on Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) to address their concerns, but (DABS) responded by saying that with the onset of winter, the supply of electricity in Afghanistan usually increases. Despite this, they will provide more power to the private sector at night than other citizens and companies, which, they say, can solve some of the problems of the private sector.

Officials of the private sector also called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to come up with a systematic way of working, according to which they would move forward in coordination with the government.

Mr. Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar Akhund recommended that the relevant organizations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will work together with the private sector to solve these problems.