A joint committee of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (AICC) has, in a Kabul meeting on October 7, 2007, paved way for a merger between the two organizations to form a new, stronger, and united national chamber of commerce to represent the entire private sector of the country. Their elected top leaders, President Dr. Ghulam Mohammad Yaylaqi of ACCI and Chairman Azarakhsh Hafizi of AICC, signed a joint declaration on the merger at the meeting.
Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Amin Farhang, expressed his full support and his appreciation of a united voice for the private sector. “This will significantly speed up the economic progress of our country and reduce confusion among private entrepreneurs and traders”, he said at a press conference. “A modern, member-oriented chamber can play an important role in services for the enterprises and influence political decision-making. Of course, it also makes our life in the government easier, if we only need to talk to one partner who represents the balanced interest of the private sector.” According to Farhang, a new, liberal chamber law can now be ratified much faster than without the merger.
Two
main sponsors of economic development in
Afghanistan,
USAID
and GTZ,
support the concept of the merger of the two
chambers. They were represented by the Director of
the Office Economic Growth, USAID, Donnie
Harrington, and the Acting Head of Sustainable
Economic Development Program of GTZ, Shafic
Gawhari. More than 70 national and
international journalists, leading representatives
of both chambers, private entrepreneurs,
politicians, and members of the international
community in Kabul observed the event.
The Chairman of the recently established Chamber Merger Committee, Mahmood Karzai, brother of Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, declared that the CMC will work towards ensuring that the combined chamber introduces best practices such as a democratic election process, by-laws giving power to the members, external auditor to audit accounts, and a democratic and accountable board.
He
also provided further details on the
decisions of the meeting. “We expect
the first session of the founding
assembly for the new chamber to take
place as soon as November 24th.
During that session, we want private
sector representatives of all
regions and sectors to discuss and
adopt our new by-Responding to a question of the Ariana TV correspondent, Chamber Reform Commission Chairman Arif Zarif explained that the restructuring of the chamber’s full-time staff organization will be a major task of the new CMC. “A socially acceptable solution for the reduction of employees must be found,” said Zarif who is also Chairman of the Economics Committee of the National Assembly, Afghanistan’s parliament.
Joint Declaration on Merger
With
the objective to
establish a strong
and united business
membership
organization
representing the
entire private
sector of
Afghanistan, and to
build a platform for
the
self-administration
of the business
community of
Afghanistan, the
leading elected
organs of the
Afghanistan Chamber
of Commerce and
Industry (ACCI) and
the Afghanistan
International
Chamber of Commerce
(AICC) have, after
careful
consideration and
friendly
negotiations and in
close consultations
with the Ministry of
Commerce and
Industry, decided to
merge both
organizations into
one national Chamber
of Commerce and
Industry of
Afghanistan.
Under guidance of the Chamber Reform Commission (CRC), ACCI and AICC have established a Chamber Merger Committee (CMC) to prepare and implement the merger process. The CMC is composed of seven leading representatives of ACCI, seven leading representatives of AICC, and one impartial Head of Secretariat.
The CMC has unanimously elected Mr. Mahmood Karzai as its Chairman, Mr. Khan Jan Alokozai and Mr. Azarakhsh Hafizi as its Vice Chairmen, and Mr. Mohammad Haqjo as its Head of Secretariat.
Kabul, October 7, 2007
Dr. Ghulam
Mohammad Yaylaqi
President of ACCI
Azarakhsh Hafizi
Chairman of AICC
Confirmed:
Dr. Amin Farhang
Minister of Commerce
and Industry
Arif Zarif
Chairman of CRC
