Understanding Private Sector Development in the Provinces: Ministry Visit to Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz

July 2006

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, led by Mr. Said Noor Aqa Mozafari (Director of the Domestic Trade Department) recently visited business and government representatives as part of a fact-finding visit to the provinces of Mazar-e Sharif and Kunduz. The purpose of this trip was to begin the detailed planning process for the gathering of provincial information about private sector development in Afghanistan. The collection of this information is part of the Ministry’s efforts to develop provincial economic profiles.

The purpose of provincial profiling is to pull together high level information from each province, relevant to PSD policy making and to economic development and PSD donor projects. The provincial profiling exercise will involve building an understanding of the key local economic drivers and players and making contact with provincial PSD stakeholders throughout Afghanistan on a province by province basis.

In order to plan and manage the provincial information gathering process effectively, it was important to understand the likely level of administrative infrastructure and support that would be available. It was also useful to gain more insight into the attitudes of key provincial stakeholders towards private sector development (PSD) issues. The Ministry selected two pilot provinces (Balkh and Kunduz) to begin this process.

During the trip, meetings were held with the following:

·            Provincial Governor of Balkh and Deputy Provincial Governor of Kunduz (two meetings each)

·            Border management team at Haireton

·            Representatives and staff of chambers of commerce in Mazar-e Sharif

·            3 private operational companies

·            1 private company with facilities under construction

·            1 privately owned disused factory

·            4 state owned enterprises

Follow up

It was clear from the meetings that the idea of provincial profiling was welcomed in principle and considered useful, and that the people with whom the Ministry met were ready to co-operate. Future visits are being planned to these pilot sites as well other provinces, in order to raise awareness of the profiling initiative and further explore the potential for co-operating with provincial governments on preparing provincial economic development strategies.