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Security switch hits foreign investment

author avatar
31 Dec 2011 - 19:23
author avatar
31 Dec 2011 - 19:23

KABUL): The security switch from foreign troops to the Afghan forces had a negative impact on foreign investment in 2011, when cash flows into the country fell by $36 million, an official said on Saturday.

Director at the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) Roohullah Ahmadzai said foreigners invested $207 (10.1 billion afghanis) last year, compared to $466 million in 2010.

“The main reason behind the $36 million reduction in foreign investment is the ongoing security transition process,” he added. Last year, foreigners invested mostly in the construction sector, but the focus during the current year is on services.

Inadequate security had long been a hurdle to foreign investment, Ahmadzai noted, hoping the security situation would improve in 2012 and foreign entrepreneurs would pour their capital into Afghanistan.

AISA officials estimate overall investment in different sectors of the economy since 2001 at $5.2 billion. There are 20,000 companies registered with AISA — 32 percent of them foreign.

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