Security issues, monopolies, corruption and political misconduct are all working to drive business investment in Afghanistan out of the country. Since much of the money spent on business in Afghanistan comes from within the country, this could make a fight against corruption and narco-trafficking even harder, which might case a spiral into more business flight.
Since the transition from a command to market economy in 2001, over $5 billion has been invested in the Afghan economy, only 27 percent of it foreign investment. Afghan president Hamid Karzai listed corruption, lack of infrastructure and violence targeting trade as issues that need to be resolved in order to court foreign investment and keep local business leaders from moving their headquarters to safer areas, such as Dubai. People in Afghanistan also cite political corruption, pointing to the current election, as another reason they want to leave.
Read more at Al Jazeera.
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