Local manufacturers have raised concern over the lack of regulations and guidelines to market domestic products which has resulted in a number of products being sold in the name of other countries.
According to them, furniture and plastic goods are key items being manufactured in Afghanistan but sold to domestic and international markets as products from other countries.
They blame the problem on the lack of a trade mark and the lack of marketing regulations for domestic products and also say that these items are being sold on domestic markets at inflated prices.
“We know that a number of our items that are produced in the country are being sold on our markets in the name of Iran, Turkey or even Arab countries and this shows that our products are of good quality. But because people are more interested in foreign goods, retailers make a bigger profit selling the products as imported goods,” said Hikmat Ali, a furniture manufacturer.
Meanwhile, a number of trade experts have criticized government for not having regulations in place and strong marketing plans for domestic goods and called for government to step up its support of domestic industries.
Experts said that a number of neighboring countries also sell Afghanistan’s products under their own name on the international market.
“We have lots of problems, good marketing is not being doing for domestic products therefore our products sell under the name and labels of other countries,” said Samir Matin, the director of a local marketing company.
Manufacturers have also spoken out about the lack of support from government in terms of marketing domestic products.
Abdul Samad, one factory owner, said that “despite current problems that industry owners face, most factories are facing a slump and government must support domestic products.”
These business owners also said government does not evaluate the quality of imported goods. Despite this, the domestic market often chooses imported goods over domestic products believing them to be of superior quality.
