The government of Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chord Group to establish a series of special economic zones in the country as part of the Afghanistan’s economic development plan.
The signing took place alongside a high-level private event in Dubai for the ‘Commercialization of Military Bases in Afghanistan’, and was attended by members of the Afghanistan government, private sector investors, and international partners supporting the economic growth potential in Afghanistan, Afghan news agency Wadsam reported.
Over the past 12 months since the election of the National Unity Government in September 2014, Afghanistan has implemented a vast array of vital reforms to enable the country to move toward full economic independence.
Earlier this year, Afghanistan established a SEZ committee, to review how these tax and labor concessioner zones could be used to stimulate local employment and foreign direct investment.
“A special economic zone allows us to create not just a managed but an optimized environment in Afghanistan to attract foreign investors into key sectors of our economy,” said Mohammad Daoud Sultanzoy, Chairman of Afghan Airfield Economic Development Commission.
He said that investment in these sectors in turn will transform other industries, creating direct and indirect local employment. It also simplifies the issuance of visas, customs and other processes required to bring specialist labor and equipment required for business operation within the SEZs.
A study carried out by Harakat, a non-profit Afghan-managed organization tasked with improving Afghanistan’s business climate, concluded that the establishment of SEZs in Afghanistan would send “a signal to investors that the country is committed to supporting private sector development, and could encourage higher levels of foreign investment—in line with the conclusions of the London Conference on Afghanistan held in December 2014”.
The signing of the MoU between the Chord Group and the government represents an important step in realizing the new economic vision for the country.
The Chord Group is a turnkey provider of SEZs, and establishes, invests-in, develops and operates SEZ’s across the world.
“In order for Afghanistan to create a true free market for business and enterprise that provides a solid regulatory framework we sought out industry leaders that can help guide us toward creating effective implementation plans. As such, I am pleased to report the recent relationship developed with The Chord Group to add value to AAEDC as we further our Invest Afghanistan campaign,” said Sultanzoy.
