Maidan Wardag Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry formation and problems of businesswomen

Although the Taliban government announced on Monday the opening of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Maidan Wardak province, some businesswomen in different provinces of Afghanistan said their business is low and their products need to be exported and there is no place for them to stand.

Lailma Amrakhel, a board member of the Maidan Wardago Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said they created the chamber to address the issues of women in the business world.

She told Radio Azadi:

“We want them to be helped, they should have jobs and opportunities to work, they should be recognized and become members of the chamber of commerce, they should be given licenses to carry out official work and activities.”

But some businesswomen say their business is less than before.

Anisa, a resident of Maidan Wardag province, told Azadi Radio:

“We are moving forward with our work. Last year we exported some to Dubai, this year we have not made any progress in that regard.”

Some other businesswomen also said that lack of land for export is one of the reasons why they face obstacles in their work.

Khadija, a handicraft merchant in Kabul, said:

“There is not enough market, there is no buying and selling, there is no money, and the previous levels of buying and selling, imports and exports, are now unmeasurable.”

One of the women, Ghancha Gula, who works in honey production in Herat province, told Radio Azadi:

“Unfortunately, the market deteriorated and people lost money. Our general problem is that unfortunately we have no market. Before there were many exhibitions, we could attend exhibitions and sell our products.”

Meanwhile, UN Women, the UN women’s ministry in Afghanistan, wrote on its X-page on Tuesday morning that business women in Nangarhar province met with the agency’s special representative, Alison Dowdian, and, led by women, have requested financial and technical support for trade and market access.

We asked Abdusalam Jawad, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce under the Taliban government, which severely restricts women’s activities and work, how to address the challenges faced by women in business, but he did not respond until after the publication of the report. The Azadi Radio report did not respond to questions.

However, the Taliban-controlled state television reported on Monday that the Taliban government provided business facilities for women in accordance with the principles of Islamic law, citing an official from the Taliban government’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce.

While the activities of businesswomen have provided employment opportunities for these women in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, the market and they face many challenges, including a lack of capital, the UN Development Agency said in a report in Hamar at the end of the month.