The Ministry of Mines (MoM) on Sunday said that the delay in Parliament's approval of the New Law on Mines was hampering the Afghan economy by keeping interested foreign investors from injecting capital and producing employment opportunities in the mining sector.
MoM officials said that the draft of the Law on Mines was sent to the National Assembly for approval two months ago, but remains held up.
"The approval of the New Law on Mines is the only way we can attract more foreign investors to Afghanistan and they are worried about the approval of this law," said Mohammad Rafi Rafiq Sediqi, spokesperson of the MoM.
"Several companies have expressed interest in investing in the mining sector. But due to delay in the New Law on Mines approval, they have not been able to start their work," said Mohammad Ibrahim Shams, the deputy head of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA).
Several economic experts warned that if the law is not approved at all, Afghanistan would surely miss out on major investments that have been discussed for tapping its promising mineral deposits.
"The delay in approving the Law on Mines will have an adverse effect on economic progress in Afghanistan," said Azrakhsh Hafizi, the head of the International Relations Committee at the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI).
Meanwhile, the Administrative Board of the Lower House said that the Law would be on the agenda in the near future.
"We are holding a meeting[...]to prepare the agenda for the coming week. We hope that all Laws are put on the priority list. We will try to include the New Law on Mines as well for its approval," said Sayed Ikram, the Secretary of the Lower House.
Economic experts have said that opening up the mining sector to foreign investments should be made a priority, but in this case, it appears the legislative process has trumped business stratagem.