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The Private
Sector Development (PSD) Directorate within the Ministry of Commerce and
Industries has been established. The main task of the Directorate is to
provide PSD policy
development, implementation and monitoring within the Ministry. The MoCI in
turn, will have responsibility for guiding and co-coordinating PSD policy across
government, ministries and agencies, to encourage the development of a
flourishing private sector delivering economic growth and reducing poverty. The
PSD Directorate will have five key areas of responsibility:
·
Enabling private sector investment, in particular by making the regulatory
system more effective and efficient;
·
Promoting formalisation of the economy;
·
Encouraging innovation and competitiveness;
·
Developing functioning markets;
·
Promoting a shared stakeholder vision for PSD
These
responsibilities will be divided between three departments, as follows:
Investment Policy Department (IP)
The
department’s objective will be to contribute to significant and sustained growth
in productive domestic and foreign investment in the economy. To achieve this
objective, the department will:
·
Work
to reduce the regulatory burden on the private sector while at the same time
achieving the goals of these regulations;
·
Work
within the Ministry of Commerce and with other Ministries to promote
institutional reform so as to enhance the government-private sector interface;
·
Coordinate with AISA to provide information to the private sector to facilitate
productive investment.
Market and Business Development Policy Department (MBD)
The
department’s objective is to encourage the development of market conditions
within which competitive Afghan businesses can grow, and seek to create a
business environment in which there is a competitive advantage to operating in
the formal sector. Towards this objective, the department will:
·
Demonstrate opportunities for productive investment by analyzing value chains,
identifying and removing obstacles to value creation;
·
Identify incentives and disincentives to formalization and developing a package
of measures to encourage greater formalization of the Afghan economy;
·
Improve access by Afghan firms to public contracts;
·
Facilitate the development by Afghan businesses of skills and knowledge needed
to compete effectively;
·
Encourage the creation of a sustainable market for business development
services.
Private Sector Development Outreach Department (PSDO)
The
objective of the PSDO Department is to promote effective dialogue between the
MoCI and other PSD stakeholders and seek to develop a “shared stakeholder
vision” on the role of government in a free market economy. Using communication
channels effectively and adopting a systematic approach to dialogue, the
department will:
·
Help
develop a wider public understanding of the role of the private sector and the
benefits that can flow from economic growth based on private sector-led
development;
·
Provide the Ministry with a better understanding of the views and priorities of
the private sector;
·
Disseminate information on PSD policy and reform programmes;
·
Coordinate with other Ministries that include a PSD-related mandate, to ensure
effective implementation of PSD initiatives.
The
PSDD will be based in Kabul but will also operate through a network of regional
offices.
PSD Directorate’s New Director Appointed
Mr Hafezullah
Wali Rahimi has been appointed the new Director of the PSD Directorate. Mr
Rahimi has had a long career in both business and government and is well placed
to take on this key role. Mr Rahimi was formerly Director of Afghanistan
National Standards Authority (ANSA) based in the Ministry of Commerce and
Industries. Prior to that, he obtained undergraduate and Masters degrees in
Economics in India, at Delhi University, and began work on his PhD on the topic
of the role of the private sector in a developing country. His international
business experience has included many years in the trade and electronics sectors
in Canada, followed by experience in the film industry in Afghanistan. He then
served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Export Promotion Bank of
Afghanistan, where he is currently Chairman.
PSD
Directorate staff are currently undergoing a capacity building programme that
includes a number of cross-cutting themes for the entire directorate staff, as
well as a follow-on training program specifically aimed at each of the PSDD’s
three departments.
For more
information about the PSD Directorate and its activities, please contact:
Mr Hafezullah
Wali Rahimi
Director, PSD
Directorate
Ministry of
Commerce and Industries, Kabul
Tel: 0799
313330; email:
walirahimi_KBL@yahoo.com
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