No power can stop Kabul to achieve national goals: Ghani

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: The Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani says no power can stop the country to achieve its national goals as he insisted that the times have passed when the country was ruled based on feudalism principles. President Ghani made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a private steel company in Kabul today.

He said the whole nation, including private sector want a system that is based on the constitution of the country, insisting that no power or law can create hurdles on the way of the nation to achieve the national goals. The Afghan President further added that the country has been facing violence and conflict for the past 40 years and emphasized that there should be no more violence.

President Ghani was apparently pointing towards the anti-government armed militant groups and the individuals opposing the government. This comes as the Afghan government together with its international allies has been consistently attempting to encourage the anti-government armed militant groups to participate in peace talks but no major breakthrough has been noted so far with the Taliban group continuously insisting on continued insurgency.

However, the Afghan government and the international community are hopeful that the increased pressures will eventually force the group to refrain from violence and participate in talks to find a political solution.

Meanwhile, a private iron melting and steel production firm was inaugurated by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani during a ceremony organized in the industrial park of Kabul. The factory, Khan Steel, has been established by a private entrepreneur with a total investment of around $30 million.

The head of the factory Khan Mohammad Wardak said the factory will start iron production in accordance with the international standards and procedures. Wardak further added that the factory will produce enough iron to respond up to 30 percent of the construction needs of the country.

He called on government leaders to help the iron melting and production sector to boost its outcome, specifically by providing access to the scrap metal belonging to the ministry of defense. Speaking during the ceremony, President Ghani said the steel production in Afghanistan has reached to 220 thousand tons during the current year as six firms are actively operating in this sector. He thanked the owners and workers of Khan Steel for inaugurating the factory and said he is optimistic that the factory will have a good start. President Ghani further added that meetings will be organized with the ministry of defense to resolve the issues pertaining to the scrap metals of the ministry of defense as well as easing access to iron ores in the country.