KABUL: Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), in a press conference, published its third Business Bottleneck Report and the Autumn Business Tendency Survey Report for 2015.
According to these reports, businesses still continue to suffer from a poor business condition, but meanwhile they are very optimistic about the coming six months. Compared to the earlier season when businesses experienced an unprecedented decline amid the electoral confusion and subsequent political uncertainties, the business climate slightly improved in autumn (September, October and November 2014).
This conference was organized on 31 January 2015 at ACCI conference hall and was attended by Mr. Atiqullah Nasrat CEO, Mr. Mohammad Yonus Momand Commercial Deputy of BOD, Mr. Haji Baz Mohammad Baz Industrial Deputy of BOD and Mr. Nizamuddin Tajzada BOD member of ACCI and a representative from GIZ as well as national and international Press community.
Based on this survey the manufacturing sector and large companies are comparatively more optimistic. As before, the real situation do not meet with what the businesses expected three months back, while this time they foresee even more positive outlook for their future order books. The employment plans for next three months are promising, especially in manufacturing and services.
To mark the launch of the new Business Monitor Report, Mr. Atiqullah Nusrat, Chief Executive Officer of ACCI, said, “The biggest business impediment in 2014 was insecurity, and 80% of the surveyed companies said that the security condition for their businesses has deteriorated or did not improve compared to the year before.”
“The lack of infrastructure,” he added “is the second largest business obstacle. More than 77 percent of the surveyed companies complained that they have no access to proper infrastructure, especially the electricity. This survey also confirms that lack of transparency, political interference, bribery and excessive bank guarantee requirements in public tenders are also major problems.”
He furthermore stressed that one of the primary objectives of ACCI is to assess the challenges faced by private sector and to find solutions for existing problems. Moreover he reiterated that the promises of the National Unity Government provoked the optimism among the private sector.
At the end of the conference, summary of the survey report was briefed to the participants and media by Mr. Youus Negah, Research & Survey Unit Manager.
