Factory owners feel they could do with support from both government and people.
Notwithstanding a presidential decree, earlier this year, ordering all government offices to buy goods ‘Made in Afghanistan’, local investors and business say they are not able to compete against imports.
The government neither provides land nor subsidised electricity to encourage manufacturing. There are also no tax incentives.
Maiwand Aryan, a shoe manufacturer, says Afghan industry needs government backing. “Most of the raw materials are imported and that can be expensive. Unless the government helps, we cannot sustain our growth,” he says.
Abdul Salam, who heads a plastic-ware business, thinks Afghan manufacturers could compete with imported goods if they were assured of government support. “Promises were made to us – that we would be given land in industrial parks. But that has never been implemented,” he says.
Instead, industrial parks are being used for non-industrial purposes, industry sources say.
Members of the Herat industrialists union say that only some government offices patronise them. The majority are indifferent to local products. Suhrab Qurbanzada says, “Taxes and electricity bills are so high that we cannot compete with the cheaper imports. If the government does not provide us with facilities and subsidise us, we cannot continue our work.”
The industrialists union in Balkh province also demands preferential treatment. Sayed Taher Roshan, union head, says local products have the edge on quality but people and the government prefer to buy cheaper imports. There are roughly 250 big and small factories in the province.
Yaqub Ali Muhebi, who heads the union’s small manufacturers, says the worsening security situation has been bad for business. “Since the war has become severe in the north, it has badly impacted on industry in Balkh,” he says. As a result there has been a rapid shrinking of the workforce in the province.
Engineer Abdul Matin, in-charge of Pakiza Dairy Company, complains power shortages and high tariffs are also major reasons for the stagnating industry in Balkh. The province is dependent on imported electricity.
In defence
However, Sher Ahmad Spahi, head of commerce, claims the provincial government does a lot for the growth of local industry. Following the presidential decree, 15 percent of local produce is consumed within the province.
There is no doubt that growth in manufacturing could create hundreds of new jobs. Abdul Basir Reshtia, one of the organisers of Kabul Jan Jashan (my lovely Kabul), an exhibition that showcased products made in Afghanistan, appealed for help from the government and public for local manufacturing. “We can change the level of unemployment that is the cause of the big tragedy (of migration). By making our own products, we can eliminate unemployment altogether,” he says.
Rahmudin Agha, a participant in the Kabul exhibition, says the best way to stop poor quality imports would be for Afghanistan to make its own products. “Not political but economic war is going on in the whole world … If we don’t start our own manufacturing, we can never hope to compete with our rivals,” he says.
But people say local products like hand-made carpets are more expensive than machine-made imports. Abdul Ahad, a Kabul-resident says, “A poor man will not buy a carpet priced at 20,000 Afs (290 USD), when he can buy two carpets for half that price.”
Sharafudin Kakar, a student in the science faculty of Kabul University, says he refuses to any longer drink “poor quality” local beverages. “No one drinks them,” he claims.
Zafar Hashemi, a deputy spokesperson for the president, says the government wants to expand the market for local products.
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