Stockholm, 12 October. SIPRI, together with the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR), present one of the most comprehensive reports on the Afghan private sector to date. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the report is the product of a one-year field and desk research study of the status of the private sector in Afghanistan and its connection to issues of development and security.
The new report illustrates that the Afghan private sector has thus far failed to fulfil its potential as an engine of economic growth or an instrument of social inclusion. While there is a prospect of tapping this potential, the country’s economy is currently mostly deadlocked. A host of factors have undermined efforts by the Afghan Government and the international community to create a more conducive environment for the formal private sector. This is acutely evident in the many remaining obstacles to socioeconomic progress and to development of the private sector in particular.
To break the deadlock, bold economic reforms and new government partnership modalities with the private sector and the international community are needed. The report offers a comprehensive review of the Afghan private sector and concrete recommendations to the Afghan Government, national stakeholders and the international community on how to facilitate a more inclusive, productive and competitive Afghan private sector.
For the full details on the way forward, the research supporting it and the private sector’s larger historical and politico-economic context, download the complete report.
For a brief overview of the report’s findings and recommendations, download the 5 page Executive Summary.