Addressing delegates at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union – OECD Eurasia Week 2018 – conference in Paris, Chief Executive of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, unprecedented gains have been made in the investment sector by Afghan womenin recent times and that government is committed to supporting women business owners in the country.

According to him, there are more than 1,000 women who either own or manage businesses in the country and that their presence in different sectors has provided enormous support to economic development in Afghanistan.

Abdullah said it is government’s goal to eliminate discrimination and violence against women, to develop their human capital and promote their leadership in order to guarantee their full and equal participation in all aspects of life.

“We believe that gender participation and contribution help lift families and communities out of poverty and contributes to higher GDP levels.

“This phenomenon is seen and felt globally, and in Afghanistan an unprecedented number of Afghan women are participating in the formal private sector economy as entrepreneurs, business owners and employees. Women are also playing a significant role in the Afghanistan SME sectors, such as agriculture, carpets, gems and handicrafts,” he said.

Abdullah told delegates attending the conference that to further promote women’s involvement in business, the High Economic Council approved the proposal for the establishment of Afghanistan Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

He said Afghanistan continues to strive to engage women in all fields so they can realize their potential.

“The National Unity Government has paid special attention to their cause, not only to provide educational and capacity building opportunities but also to empower women and enable their advancement and empowerment,” he said.

According to him, last month, 417 women ran as candidates in the elections for 25 percent of the seats in the Lower House of Parliament (Wolesi Jirga).

“At no time in our history have so many women – many of whom are under the age of 40 – participated in the political life of the country. Today, a woman sits on the Supreme Court, a first again. And many more are ministers, ambassadors, governors, judges and high-level officials,” he said.

“On the private sector side, we have more women entrepreneurs and investors than ever before. If we look at the history of Afghanistan, women contributed tremendously to the economic growth of the family and their communities as a whole.

“Sectors such as rugs and carpets, gems and handicraft have flourished mostly as a result of women skills and hard work. Nowadays, diversification has opened new avenues for the younger generation who are in newer sectors, including services, IT, construction, agri-business, healthcare and education.”

Abdullah said almost 900 small-to-medium size companies across the country today are owned and run by women.

He said these companies have generated a significant number of job opportunities for both women and men.

Because the impact of women’s economic empowerment is so significant, government dedicated a part of the National Priority Program to women’s economic development, he said.

However, he pointed out that challenges continue to exist for women entrepreneurs.

“Female entrepreneurs face barriers and hurdles in setting up and growing businesses in comparison to men in areas such as registering their businesses, paying taxes and accessing contracts.”

In line with this, Abdullah said government was committed to ensuring interagency and inter-ministerial support and coordination of policies and programs – such as the Women Economic Empowerment Executive Committee, which was established last year.

He said government was also committed to providing women business owners with access to information about laws, regulations, policies, licensing requirements, contracting procedures, customs regulations, standards and certifications, as well as removing marketing barriers and providing training and skills development programs.

He stated that government believes the development of policies and better staff performance will help Afghanistan women entrepreneurs to participate in the transition of the Afghanistan economy.

“I believe that the backbone of our economy is small and medium enterprises. These SMEs represent over 90 percent of the businesses in Afghanistan, yet their growth is constrained by the lack of access to capital. The government intends to promote both domestic and foreign investment in our SME sector,” he said.

According to him, government has established the ‘Women in Business’ working group to support female entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses.

The OECD aims to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world and provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems.

The organization works with governments to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change and measures productivity and global flows of trade and investment.

It also analyses and compares data to predict future trends and sets international standards on a wide range of elements from agriculture and tax to the safety of chemicals.