The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is dedicated to fostering private sector development, aiming to ensure an equal and transparent environment for doing business, and to improve the investment climate. Hence we are committed to encourage the development of the formal economy and drive the process of formalization in Afghanistan. The overall objective of these efforts would be to promote sound business practices consistent with international standards and to enable a business environment in which a competitive private sector can develop and thrive, at the same time ensuring increased revenue for the government, an orderly business environment, improved statistics, and, more generally, economic development and growth.
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June 8th, 2008
China has won a $3.5 billion contract to develop Afghanistan’s Aynak copper field, the largest foreign direct investment project in the history of Afghanistan.
The size of the bid — almost double the expected amount — surprised other potential foreign investors.
By some estimates, the 28-square-kilometer copper field in Logar Province could contain up to $88 billion worth of ore. But there is no power plant in the area that can generate enough electricity for the mining and extraction operations. And Afghanistan has never had the kind of railroad needed to haul away the tons of copper that could be extracted.
That is why a large part of the Chinese bid includes the cost of building a 400-megawatt, coal-fired power plant and a freight railroad passing from western China through Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Pakistan.
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May 28th, 2008
India has joined Pakistan and Afghanistan in the $7.6 billion, 1,043- mile pipeline project to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan.
The three countries signed the framework agreement with the Central Asian republic in Islamabad for the laying of the 56-inch-diameter TAPI pipeline, whose original cost in 2004 was estimated at half the current estimate, by 2015.
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April 25th, 2008
The State-owned China Metallurgical Group (MCC) won a tender on the 20.10.2007 to develop a major Afghan copper deposit. This is done in a $3 billion-project, so it is thelargest foreign investment in Afghanistan’s history. It won the bid against Strikeforce (Russia’s Basic Element Group), Kazakhmys Consortium (England), Hunter Dickinson (Canada) and Phelps Dodge (USA). MMC has due to their own numbers invested US$1 billion in mining FDI, focusing on iron, copper, gold, nickel, zinc and aluminum.
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November 25th, 2007
The World Bank approved today a US$25 million grant to Afghanistan, designed to improve the country’s investment climate and infrastructure facilities.
The Private Sector Development (PSD) Support Project aims to provide landservices and facilities including electricity, water and telecommunications; and build capacity of government agencies to develop and implement PSD-related programs. It will also help improve capacity of the government and its agencies to promote Afghanistan as an investment destination and provide investment facilitation services.
Afghanistan needs to develop a dynamic private sector to provide jobs and drive growth,¡± said Mariam J. Sherman, World Bank Acting Manager for Afghanistan.
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June 11th, 2007
Businessmen and other trade unions have complained of high taxes and termed it an obstacle in their progress.
Aziz Shams, spokesman for the finance ministry, said the taxes over the trade unions were of two types, the first kind was 10 % levy on restaurants, airlines companies, internet cafes, public call offices (PCOs) if the organisations have over 0.1 million afghanis income per month.
He said other unions had also to pay specific amount of taxes.
Shams said the traders, who did not have proper documents, a delegation from the government would assess their income and would impose 2 per cent tax on them.
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June 11th, 2007
The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) has asked the government to focus upon structural reforms instead of rushing towards privatisation of the state-owned enterprises.
A paper released by the AREU on Monday, said the government should reform the laws on investment, improve security and build the infrastructure to attract more investment from the private sector.
The statement said hasty privatisation would not only fail to achieve the desired results but also render about 15,000 people jobless. For this purpose, the government should concentrate upon improving the law and order situation and performance of the units scheduled to be presented for auction.
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February 1st, 2007
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