Afghan carpet makers want the government to tax foreign imports that have flooded the market. The Afghan carpet industry has lost 70 percent of its market abroad.
Afghan carpet makers want the government to tax foreign imports that have flooded the market. The Afghan carpet industry has lost 70 percent of its market abroad.Carpet seller Ghulam Rabani who has a shop in Chaman Hozari says Afghan carpets have been displaced by much cheaper imports from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
He says he has not sold even 200 sq metres of Afghan carpets this year, even though they are of much better quality than the imports. The price is the main factor, he points out. Imports are much cheaper: a 10 sq metre Afghan carpet costs between 50,000 and 60,000 Afs (1,000 to 1,200 USD) while an Iranian carpet is 5,500 Afs (110 USD), and Turkish between 10,000 and 15,000 Afs (200 and 300 USD).
Carpet making is a family-based industry here. The skill has been passed on from generation to generation. But the shrinking of lucrative markets abroad together with inadequate infrastructure for the essential process of washing and cutting have forced desperate carpet-makers to cross the border into Pakistan which offers these facilities in return for the right to sell the carpets under a Made in Pakistan label.
The government should increase the tax on imports in order to provide domestic carpets with a market, says the carpet industry.
Price factor
The government has neglected the industry and has made no effort to create a market, says Rabani, the carpet seller.
Nurrudin is another carpet seller in the Hozori Chaman area of Kabul. “Foreign carpets have sidelined Afghan carpets,” he says pointing to the Chinese, Turkish and Iranian carpets that occupy most of the space in his shop.
Nurrudin says Afghan carpets are unique and made of good quality silk. The weavers are hardworking Afghans. But the problem is the imports are cheap and have taken over the market, he adds.
Abdul Ahad, a customer in Nurrudin’s shop, is scrutinising a Turkish carpet spread on the ground. “Sure Afghan carpets are good, but who can buy them! They are expensive,” he says.
In Jada e Maiwand area Sakhi Dad a carpet seller is of the firm belief that if imports were made more costly there would be a market for Afghan carpet makers. “Customers are not to be blamed. They have to buy carpets for their homes,” he says.
Steady market
Najibullah Ahmad thinks the Afghan carpet industry would prosper if imports were taxed and government offices only bought from them.
However, Ministry of Finance spokesman Tawhidi dismisses the plea. “This is not the time to increase the tax on foreign carpets. If we increase the tax nobody will be able to buy carpets.”
Sayed Masood, lecturer in the economics of Kabul University also says raising the import tax is not a long-term solution.
His recommendation is as follows. “There are three ways to control the import of foreign carpets. One: investment should increase in the industry. Two: modern factories should be set up. Three: carpet makers should be trained in modern ways.”
Wahidullah Ghazikhail, the spokesman in the Commerce Ministry, also rules out the option of raising taxes on imports to protect the domestic carpet industry. Khan Jan Alokozai, the assistant director in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says the problems associated with marketing are the main impediment for the industry. According to him, in the years before Afghanistan became embroiled in conflict, 40 percent of the industry’s profits came from local sales. “The current government has not done anything to rehabilitate this cottage industry. What has been saved by carpet makers despite four decades of war, is about to be lost,” he warns.
He says between 2007 and 2010, the Afghan carpet industry has lost 70 percent of its market abroad.
