BEIJING - Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) officials on Tuesday asked the government to come up with measures to overcome increasing joblessness and decreasing investment in the country.
ACCI deputy head Khan Jan Alokozay told a meeting in Kabul that joblessness remained a major problem since foreign forces withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.
He said the decreased investments in Afghanistan contributed to increased joblessness. After 2014, small level investments decreased by 70 percent, medium by 50 percent and big level investment by 25 percent, he said.
Alokozay linked security problems, high taxes and some problems to low investments in the country.
The private sector had been paying 0.5 percent of its income tax to the government 16 years ago, but now the amount had increased to six percent while tax on imported products despite their availability at home remained the same.
The government was also paying no attention to improving security for investors, and providing them other facilities such as loans, electricity and land, Alokozay said.
Afghans have invested millions of US dollars in foreign countries and they could shift their capital to Afghanistan if provided required facilities, he added.
Faizullah Zaki, labor and social affairs minister, also expressed concern over decreased investment and increased joblessness in the country. He said World Bank statistics showed 1.9 million people in Afghanistan were jobless.
Zaki said public-private partnership was the only solution to the two problems and there should be a clear plan in place in this regard.
“Today’s meeting is a good step forward toward resolving joblessness and improving coordination between the government and the private sector”, he concluded. (Pajhwok)