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| Afghanistan | |
| Afghanistan's Booming Economy | |
| 2006-09-23 | |
There's no shortage of profit to be made in an economy that grew 14% in the 12 months to March 21, and is expected to expand by a similar amount in the current financial year. In Kabul alone the number of cars and taxis has increased by one-third since last year to 400,000, up from fewer than 1,000 under the Taliban. Large sections of the city boast three- and four-storey buildings where mud brick houses stood only a few years ago, and twin 17- and 20-storey towers are currently under construction in Herat. Telecom was one of the first big success stories. U.S. companies stood by as Afghanistan's first four mobile-phone licenses were auctioned off, starting in January 2003. The Afghan-American and regional investors who got licenses have profited as the number of private mobile-phone users rocketed from zero to 1.5 million over the last five years. Now finance and banking is taking off -- and, once again, Western companies are missing out. First in the door were institutions from neighboring countries. Banks from Pakistan, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates started opening branches in October 2003. Then, in 2004, the first two local banks opened up -- Kabul Bank and Afghanistan International Bank (AIB). A third, Azizi, joined them in June this year. By next March, 16 banks are expected to be operating in Afghanistan. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 I find Local companies investing and profiting from stability to be preferable to participation of ATT. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2006-09-23 21:14 |