Covid, political change take toll on small enterprises

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Covid-19 pandemic and recent political change have taken a toll on small enterprises in the country, an official said on Wednesday.

The head of the Craftsmen and Shopkeepers Union, during an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, said the political change had left a negative impact on small enterprises.

“Recently, small-scale production witnessed a 40 percent decline in their activities,” Noor-ul-Haq Umari said, adding a surge in rents and tariff and imposition of new taxes by the municipality also hampered their businesses.

Umari said the problems had been shared with relevant officials and the Ministry of Finance had promised to reduce taxes by 50 percent.

He asked government officials to support the private sector and small enterprises by providing them with more incentives.

Hamid, a shopkeeper at the Habibullah Market in Kabul, said he had been running a thread business for the past three years.

“Previously, we sold 60 to 100 kilograms of thread daily but currently we sell around 20 kilograms a day,” he said.

He added they imported Pakistani, Iranian and Turkish threads that craftswomen used in making different types of garments.

Sakina Mohammadi, a resident of Kabul, said she made different types of clothes with threads. She has been associated with the business for the past three years.

“In the past, the business was very good. We bought thread for making different items. But due to economic problems, we could no longer buy thread because the market is down and our products have few buyers.”

nh/mud

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