Afghanistan: Discovering a New Reality

Globalization presents both unprecedented challenges and unparalleled opportunities for developing countries. Policy-makers and program administrators, in both government and the private sector, are called to consider emerging markets and new partnerships.

Afghanistan, long marred by internal conflict, is an example of an emerging player in the world marketplace. Yet few people outside of the Middle East realize the advances this country has made; when US troops withdrew, so did the international media. Now the Afghanistan leadership is striving to spread the word about its advances and secure long-term commercial relationships.

Recently, as I was looking to spend a few weeks of personal time volunteering, I found an opportunity for an internship at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C. As I shared my Afghan experience with my Latin American friends and fellow employees, I was surprised to learn that many of them are unfamiliar with the recent changes that have profoundly impacted the country, and/or they tend to generalize Afghanistan with their views of other Middle East countries.

Today, based on the shared experiences I had with the Embassy team, and on the learning from the internship, I can honestly say that I am happily surprised to discover this new reality that this country known as The Heart of Asia is living.

Through the support provided by the international community, and the integrity and determination of the population of Afghanistan and its leaders, this country has achieved significant changes in the political, social, and economic realms. In the last five years, the country has made more progress than was possible in the previous three decades of conflict. For instance, the current political reality shows important changes; like the implementation of a democratic system with the inclusion of women as key actors in the definition of the future for this nation. In the last democratic presidential election process, 86% of eligible voters participated and 41% of these were women. Without a doubt, this conveys a strong message to those who still irrationally think that the ways of war and terrorism are a viable option to achieve any goal. Additionally, this shows a significant advancement in reestablishing women’s rights, allowing women to actively participate in the nation’s changing process.

In the economic field, Afghanistan is still working to strengthen its commercial ties with the European Community, Asia and America. In addition, it is furthering efforts in diverse scenarios—financial growth, legal reforms, infrastructural improvement, and security matters, among others—in order to obtain foreign investments that will allow this country to strengthen its economy.

At this point we must raise many important questions regarding the process of change in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s progress over the past five years is incontrovertible. However, the reconstruction process will come to a close, and someday financial support from the international community will dwindle. Then one must ask how the nation’s leaders plan to develop and execute state policies that will sustain the trend of cultural, economic and legal change that is already underway. One of the biggest challenges for Afghanistan and world leaders will be to design a strategy to achieve a smooth economic transition that allows the private sector (at the macro-level) to stabilize industry, reestablish growth, and begin to compete in the global economy under the same conditions as other nations. An imperative condition of competing in the world marketplace is security. The architects of development must recognize the necessity of continuous security improvements. Such security measures will create more favorable conditions for current and future investors. Afghanistan needs continued commitment from national leaders and encouragement from the international community to turn what the Afghans saw as a “venerable dream” for long time and today is the beginning of a new reality.

I encourage you to visit the web site:
www.afghanistan.business-gateways.com
or: commerce@embassyofafghanistan.org
and realize the opportunities offered by this young democracy.

This article was written by Juan Carlos Alarcon from EXXON Mobil, WSI