The Ministry of Commerce and Industry – introducing its new Private Sector Development (PSD) Directorate

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;

For more information please click here

Dialogue with the Private Sector
 
 As part of its leading role on behalf of government in addressing private sector constraints and opportunities, the Ministry of Commerce chairs a number of regular forums involving the private sector. With several other ministries also participating, these forums also enable the MoC to keep abreast of initiatives being undertaken by other Ministries to support private sector development.
 
 Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS)
 
 The Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS) is the Government of Afghanistan’s overarching strategy for promoting growth, generating wealth and reducing poverty and vulnerability. The emergence of a dynamic, competitive private sector is a key component of achieving the goals of the ANDS. As part of developing the Interim ANDS document, the Ministry of Commerce (MoC) conducted initial consultations with the private sector and civil society in 2005 to identify constraints to private sector development and their underlying causes. Read More
 
 
 The Commercial Competitiveness Commission of Afghanistan (CCCA)
 
 The CCCA’s vision is to raise the living standards of the people of Afghanistan through promoting a dynamic and competitive Afghan private sector. The CCCA focuses on enabling private sector firms to create high-value products and services through the development of market strategies for three industry sectors of Afghanistan’s economy - carpets, dried fruit and nuts, and marble. The strategies are based on the concept of forming industry ‘clusters.’ Read More
 
 High Commission on Investment (HCI)
 
 Chaired by the Minister of Commerce and bringing together the key economic ministries, the HCI is a focal point of PSD policy making as it relates to investment.
 The High Commission on Investment members include the Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, Minister of Economy, Minister of Mines and Industries, Minister of Agriculture, and the Governor of DAB. The HCI has the right to call members of the private sector to present information or arguments on particular topics. The HCI is also involved in reviewing large investment projects.