Return home, Azizi urges Afghan traders in Turkey

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) leadership views traders as “economic mujahidin”, the acting minister of commerce and industry says.

During his trip to Turkey, Minister Nooruddin Azizi met Afghan businessmen there and asked them to return to their homeland.

A statement from the Ministry of Commerce said Azizi and the delegation accompanying him met Ehsanullah Kamawal, head of the Afghan Traders’ Union in Turkey. The minister promised to address private sector’s problems.

Azizi said: “There is complete security in Afghanistan, where corruption and bureaucratic red tape have no place. You can travel even to the border with China without any concern, freely do business and invest.”

IEA encountered some problems in the initial months following its return to power, he recalled. Without reliance on foreign assistance, IEA was paying salaries of all its employees using domestic revenue, Azizi explained.

Azizi said the interim government, considering traders as "economic mujahidin", had asked him to invite Afghan businesspeople in Turkey to return to their homeland.

aw/mud