The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.E Muhammad Ashraf Ghani met with the Chairman of the Herat Commercial and Investment Chamber, Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM)’s representatives, craftsmen, representatives of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Investment, and a number of traders and investors and talked about commercial and investment issues.
Chairman of the Herat Commercial and Investment Chamber welcomed President H.E Muhammad Ashraf Ghani and his First Vice President H.E Amrullah Saleh and expressed the existing problems of the Private Sector as follows:
- Lack of security and infrastructural constructions in Islam Qala and Toor Ghondai ports
- Lack of law implementation equally in southern customs of the country
- More tax taking of some of the export products by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
- Afghanistan National Standards Authority (ANSA) does not test the merchandize with the regional standards
- Afghanistan Petroleum Authority (APA) charges without providing any service
- TCRC company also creates headaches for the traders and investors
- Afghan traders still cannot take the advantage the Chabahar tax exempted region
First Vice President H.E Amrullah Saleh said that he would seriously fight against corruption and so far, all the documented cases have been investigated and the violators have been dealt with legally.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.E Muhammad Ashraf Ghani said, “To develop and stabilize the economy of the country, the government is committed to support any plot in this regard.”
He, furthermore, said that the government has dedicated two million dollars to construct the infrastructural buildings of 8 customs of the country.
He added that every corrupted official is going to be terminated from their jobs and that no extra charges upon the merchandize are acceptable to the government at any cost.
ACCI’s First Deputy of the board of directors Mr. Haji Muhammad Younus Muhmand said that on one hand, Indian Custom does not let Afghan agricultural products enter India because of not having Hing certificates, and from the other hand, Indian Embassy for Afghanistan does not issue urgent or long-term business visas for the Afghan traders and investor.
Mr. Muhmand said, “We are willing to produce, process and do marketing for other agricultural products of Afghanistan while the government should find more job opportunities for the unemployed.
Mr. Babury said, “Private Sector, Line Governmental Departments, and Educational Administrations play an import role in how to; create more job opportunities and how to build the capacity of the employers.”
Mr. Ahmadyar said that in order to improve WCCI, the current board of directors of the ACCI and its chairmanship is committed to providing comprehensive cooperation and assistance.