On April 18, 2013, Deputy Chief of Mission M. Ashraf Haidari was invited by the US Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations to deliver keynote remarks on “Charting New Frontiers: Leveraging Investment in a Post-Conflict Zone” at a session of the Sankalp Unconvention Summit-2013, the largest social enterprise focused gathering in the world, in Mumbai, India. The Summit participants included social entrepreneurs, thought leaders, policy makers from around the world to discuss “Looking beyond Impact: Seeking Transformational Change.”
Mr. Haidari appreciated the ongoing efforts of the Indian and American governments, two of Afghanistan’s strategic partners, in promoting business and investment in Afghanistan, as an integral part of their shared commitment to the country’s long-term stabilization and development. He noted that Afghanistan had one of the most-friendly investment environments in the region, and called on the Indian investors and social entrepreneurs to consider investing in Afghanistan. He also asked them to share with Afghanistan their vast expertise and experience with pro-poor business and investment schemes with a record of generating a sustainable income for impoverished communities in India.
To help reduce poverty through impact investment, as opposed to aid with a tendency to make its beneficiaries dependent but not self-reliant, Mr. Haidari called for results-oriented South-South-North cooperation. He encouraged developed countries, such as the United States, to support the efforts of India, a developing country itself, to help Afghanistan, a least developed post-conflict country, to address its chronic problem of abject poverty. He told the audience that last June at the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan, the Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industries presented to potential investors a detailed list of investment opportunities in Afghanistan, informing some 320 business representatives of 25 different markets for investment in the following sectors:
- Energy
- Minerals
- Transport
- Agriculture
- Small and Medium-Sized Industries
- ICTs, Finance, Health Services, and Construction
Mr. Haidari also discussed issues of security and good governance as two key enablers of profitable investment. He noted that although some districts of the south and east of Afghanistan were not safe for business, the rest of the country was completely secure for investment. He encouraged the participating Afghan businessmen to share with the audience their firsthand experience in establishing a business in Afghanistan. In obtaining a business license and establishing a business, Afghanistan has ranked 28 out of 185 countries on the 2013 World Bank’s Doing Business Index, which Mr. Haidari noted was a significant achievement. Moreover, he encouraged joint ventures with successful, credibly profitable Afghan firms, as one way to mitigate against potential risk due to a lack of situational awareness and bureaucratic constraints.
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