Business
Gov’t usurps $ 109 million ACCI properties: Officials
The Afghan government has grabbed $109 million properties of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Officials said.
Officials in ACCI said that the government creates obstacles instead of growing investment in the country.
Land grabbing now has become an established practice in the country and those who have power would not hesitate in usurping lands and it might be due to its value. It is a lucrative business now. The grabbed lands defiantly bring millions of dollars to them. Those who are engaged in this business might enjoy immense support from powerful individuals in the government, because common people would not dare to do so.
“We call on government to wake up and use the existed opportunities and provide fields for investments that unemployment reduces in the country,” Azrakhsh Hafezi, head of ACCI’s foreign relation said.
If the government turned a blind eye to the issue, it would not be too far to witness that all public lands are usurped by the land mafia. Immediate action is the need of the hour.
“The Chamber of Commerce now becomes a political business and no one can press government for this action,” Abdul Jabar Safi, head of craftsmen union said.
In the last ten years, land disputes have become a permanent feature of Afghanistan’s landscape and also a primary driver of conflict in the country. Land grabbing has reached its peak in the past 10-year, mainly after the collapse of Taliban regime. Land mafia groups have increased their activities as soon as land value has increasing.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) announced creating a new plan for supporting investments.
“Afghanistan faces a difficult economic situation and we should work on standardizing productions and investment,” Muhammad Qurban Haqjo, chairman of AISA said.
Business
Afghanistan’s economic prospects are bleak: World Bank
The absence of GDP growth coupled with declining external financing avenues for off-budget expenditures paint a bleak picture of Afghanistan’s economic prospects, the World Bank said.
After a severe 20.7 percent GDP contraction in 2021, the Afghan economy contracted further by 6.2 percent in 2022, the bank said in a report.
“While Afghanistan’s agricultural and subsistence economy, including illicit opium production, provided some resilience in rural areas, higher prices, reduced demand, lower employment, and disruptions to services had severe impacts across the country,” it said.
The proportion of households that did not have enough income to meet basic food needs more than doubled from 16 percent to 36 percent in this period, according to the bank.
In the context of deep concerns about the policies of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), including restrictions imposed on women and girls, the international community, including the World Bank, recalibrated its approach to supporting Afghanistan: first to providing humanitarian support and then to providing off-budget support for basic service delivery and livelihoods.
However, IEA moved to restore domestic revenues, which reached $2.2 billion or 15 percent of GDP in 2022. “Nevertheless, overall economic activity remained depressed, unemployment stayed high, and the banking sector was dysfunctional due to constraints on international transfers and concerns about liquidity and solvency.”
World Bank said that Afghanistan’s economic outlook remains uncertain, with the threat of stagnation looming large until at least 2025. “This economic stagnation will deepen poverty and unemployment, with job opportunities expected to decrease and food insecurity expected to increase.”
The bank noted that for a sustainable future, Afghanistan needs to focus on its comparative advantages, particularly in the agricultural and extractive sectors. Agriculture could be a key driver of growth and poverty reduction, with the potential to create jobs, it added.
Business
Commerce ministry inks 10 MoUs to boost development of small and medium-sized businesses
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
Business
Export volume totals over $140 million in last month of 1402
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
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