Afghanistan opens Industry Week to showcase self-reliance push

Taliban officials highlight economic self-sufficiency, lower tariffs, and rising factory output at Kabul exhibition featuring 700 domestic producers

KABUL, Afghanistan (MNTV) — The fourth Industry Week Exhibition kicked off in Kabul on May 27, with Taliban officials vowing to promote industrial expansion and self-reliance in a country long dependent on imports.

According to Tolo News, the week-long event features over 700 booths from Afghan producers across sectors like food processing, electronics, textiles, and household goods. It reflects growing efforts by the Islamic Emirate to revive domestic production under economic sanctions and limited foreign investment.

“Industry is the foundation of every country’s progress,” said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs. “Nations that invested in their industries overcame unemployment and built strong domestic and export markets.”

Deputy prime minister for administrative affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi called for strict quality control in local manufacturing, warning that substandard products—whether made in Afghanistan or imported—could damage the entire sector.

The acting minister of industry and commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, claimed that all Afghan products are of high quality and dismissed criticisms as attempts to undermine the country’s economic independence. He also announced tariff reductions on industrial machinery and raw materials to support manufacturers.

Despite these gains, acting economy minister Din Mohammad Hanif acknowledged that Afghanistan remains heavily reliant on imports—even for basic goods like prayer rugs and turbans. The government, he said, is committed to reversing this trend.

The Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines reported that the industrial sector grew 12% this year, now employing over 420,000 people across 6,500 factories. Chamber president Shirbaz Kaminzada stated that the private sector has achieved self-sufficiency in 168 industrial fields.

Power shortages, however, remain a critical obstacle. Abdul Bari Omar, CEO of the national power utility DABS, noted that “without electricity, there can be no industry,” calling energy access a central challenge in Afghanistan’s path to industrial development.

The exhibition runs through June 1 and serves as both a promotional platform for Afghan goods and a political statement by the Taliban government positioning industrial growth as key to the country’s economic future.