Insecurity is a major factor behind lackluster economic activity and business in Afghanistan, according to a survey conducted by the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Kabul, Balkh, and Kandahar.
A non-transparent revenue collection system and bidding system, and a lack of access to land are two other reasons behind the decline of business activities, officials said.
The survey evaluated nine indexes including access to financial resources, taxation, customs, biddings, registration and extension of licenses, basic infrastructure, insecurity, and the status of women.
"Still infrastructures and security are two fundamental challenges, security is better in some regions while in some areas infrastructure is an issue," said Mohammad Qurban Haqjo, ACCI chairman. "Last year infrastructure was good, but now it has problems."
Some government bodies have discussed these problems and attempted to fix them.
"Contracts and security have been the main issues, the Ministry of Commerce and Industries has formulated comprehensive measures and has discussed the issue with the Ministry of Finance, we will move forward in the future," said Muzammil Shinwari, the Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industries.
The Breshna Electric Corporation, the state-owned electricity company, also has plans to improve infrastructure.
"We are working on number of important projects to provide enough electricity to industrial parks," said Mirwais Alimi, head of the corporation. "A 500 kw electricity line would be extended from Turkmenistan and the completion of the CASA 1000 project will help Kabul to get rid of electricity load shedding. It will be completed by 2017. We want to bring ease in the electricity supply system."