This information comes from the assessment conducted in country for the Afghanistan report, which was published in August 2007.
The Afghanistan Commercial Law and Institutional Reform (CLIR) Diagnostic Activity was conducted in Afghanistan from February 1–February 15, 2007. Since rule of law is a critical foundation for legitimate business and honest government, the findings of this assessment are of enormous value. Not only does the full diagnostic cover the “nuts and bolts” of Afghanistan’s commercial law framework, but it also discusses general mechanisms and specific features of Afghanistan that impact the underpinnings of a strong economy.
These include, among many examples, Afghanistan’s comparative advantages in agriculture and regional trade; the country’s post-authoritarian mind-set and its impact on exclusion of free press and consequent lack of public awareness; and the impact of Islamic banking on the development of domestic investment.
Afghanistan is a land-locked Islamic Republic of about 30 million inhabitants located in the mountainous region of Central Asia between Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. It is predominantly an agrarian economy, and it has been long considered a loose confederation consisting of disparate peoples separated by harsh terrain, language, local politics, and tribal affiliations. Over the past thirty years, a series of civil wars and external invasions have caused significant civic and physical destruction. In late 2001 the U.S.-led ouster of the ultra-Islamic Taliban from Kabul led to significant changes. Although the current Constitution of Afghanistan is only three years old, a violent insurgency has yet to be rooted out from the Southern portion of the country, mostly along its border with Pakistan.
Billions of dollars of international aid have been spent on Afghanistan and billions more are promised. Afghanistan has joined a number of significant international conventions on trade and finance and has constitutionally committed itself to a market economy. Afghanistan has proposed aggressive and reform-oriented goals in its Afghanistan National Development Strategy. Most agree that the goal of outside aid is to support the development of a free, prosperous, friendly and self-sustaining Afghan-Afghanistan. The question is, “When will that happen?”
Short-term economic prosperity can lead to growth. Self-supported sustainability, however, is the key to productive long-term economic and national prosperity. An economy with the ability to address the needs of its populace will enjoy stability and respect creating an environment for improved international trade . An elected government that serves Afghans with the basics of human necessity – while enabling a necessary degree of personal and economic self-determination – will enjoy legitimacy, stability, and international clout. This type of government and economy will be mutually reinforcing and will ultimately be responsible for rebuilding a strong and self-sustaining Afghanistan.
