Domestic companies to be prioritized: ACIM

KABUL (TOLOnews): The Afghanistan Chamber of Industry and Mines called on the Islamic Emirate to focus on the industrial sector of the country and said that domestic companies should be given priority in mining contracts.
A 3-day exhibition of metals and minerals began on Tuesday.
“Everyone wants to take from our mines and give us a 10 to 20 percent share, but if we have good local industry, we can extract from our mines ourselves and export minerals to the world markets,” said Shirbaz Kaminzada, head of the Afghanistan Chamber of Industry and Mines.
The Deputy Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Hissamuddin Sabiri, called on traders to invest inside Afghanistan. He said that the ministry is planning to establish a laboratory for precious and semi-precious stones. “If he is a foreign or national trader, the ground is paved for investment now. You know the situation of the Islamic Emirate, the ground is properly paved for investment,” he said.
Speaking at the exhibition ceremony, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Nooruddin Azizi, said they supports domestic products and that an exhibition of Afghan products will be held in the UAE in the future.
“We will hold exhibitions of precious stones and some programs for the Afghanistan mines that will also include the expensive metals of Afghanistan,” he said.
Meanwhile, some participants said that such exhibitions are important to facilitate markets for Afghan products.
“In the current situation — as we know that relations between the people of Afghanistan and the world countries have decreased—such an exhibition can facilitate good trade relations,” said Nafisa Danish, a female entrepreneur.