Afghanistan

Until British independence in 1919, Afghanistan was a buffer between the British and the Russians. The 1979 invasion by the USSR lasted until 1989; the USSR’s goal in Afghanistan was to assist the Communist regime. In 1996, Taliban forces took control of Afghanistan. A Pakistani-supported movement, the Taliban developed in 1994 with the objective to eliminate Afghanistan’s anarchy. After September 11, 2001, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action resulted in the collapse of the Taliban, for protecting Osama BIN LADIN. Based on the 2001 Bonn Conference, Afghanistan held presidential elections in 2004 with Hamid KARZAI chosen as the first democratically elected president.

Main Airports

Kabul Airport (KBL)

U.S. Embassy

Great Masoud Road, Kabul
tel: (00 93) (20) 230-0436

Statistics

GDP: purchasing power parity:

$21.5 billion (2004 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

8% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity:

800 (2004 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

16.3% (2005 est.)

Labor force:

15 million (2004 est.)

Exports:

$471 million; note - not including illicit exports or reexports (2005 est.)

Exports - partners:

US 26%, Pakistan 21.5%, India 19%, Finland 4.1% (2005)

Imports:

$3.87 billion (2005 est.)

Imports - partners:

Pakistan 23.7%, US 11.2%, India 7.9%, Germany 6.8%, Turkmenistan 4.9%, Russia 4.5%, Kenya 4.3%, Turkey 4.2% (2005)

Population:

31,056,997 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.67% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line:

53% (2003)

Major Industries:

small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement; handwoven carpets; natural gas, coal, copper

Employing Workers: 74*

Registering Property: 169*

Enforcing Contracts: 165*

Closing a Business: 151*

*2006 World Bank rank out of 175 countries

Starting a Business

The table below shows the number of steps and the amount of time needed to start a business, on average

Indicator	Afghanistan	Region
Procedures (number)	3	7.9
Time (days)	8	32.5

Afghanistan Risk Assessment

Country Rating

Rating: D

A high-risk political and economic situation and an often very difficult business environment can have a very significant impact on corporate payment behaviour. Corporate default probability is very high.

Risk Assessment

The economy grew 13 per cent in 2007/08 according to IMF estimates, against 7.5 per cent in 2006/07, thanks to better weather conditions after a lack of rain affected harvests a year earlier. The growth rate should drop back to around 10 per cent in coming years. Investment in the construction sector supported by foreign aid continues to underpin the economy. Private consumption has also been growing at a significant rate partly spurred by the large revenues connected with illegal opium poppy cultivation.

It is estimated that opium production was up 37 per cent in 2007 after increasing 49 per cent in 2006 and now represents the equivalent of half of GDP, with Afghanistan producing 90 per cent of the total world supply. The trafficking breeds widespread corruption and increases the power of certain local potentates.

The central government has thus experienced difficulties in asserting its authority in some provincial areas. Even more troubling, NATO forces are still unable to retake Taliban-controlled areas with military victory appearing unlikely in the near term. The current political situation marked by severe tensions between the president, the lower chamber, and the regions should persist in 2008 and early 2009. Leadership of the country after the presidential elections scheduled for 2009 remains, however, a major uncertainty with the incumbent president Hamid Karzai, although legally qualified to run again, having already announced that he would not seek another term.

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Arts & Crafts
• Automobile
• Bags, Cases & Boxes
• Chemicals
• Computer Hardware & Software
• Construction & Real Estate
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical & Electronics
• Energy & Environment
• Food & Beverage
• Furniture & Furnishing
• Health & Medicine
• Home Supplies
• Industrial Supplies
• Lights & Lighting
• Machinery
• Mineral & Materials
• Office Supplies
• Security & Protection
• Service
• Sports & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Textile
• Toys
• Transportation