AFGHAN BUSINESSMEN TO VOTE ON NEW STRUCTURE OF CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE

Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Kabul, 10th August 2006: More than 450 elected representatives of the private sector are to meet on Saturday 12th August in Kabul to vote on the future system for Chambers of Commerce in Afghanistan.

The event on Saturday, called the National Conference of Afghan Private Sector Representatives, will be held at the Ariana Kabul Restaurant on Street 4, Khushhal Mena, opposite Silo between 9.00am and 1.00pm. The businessmen will vote by secret ballot for one of two choices.

A series of seven meetings have been held in Kabul and key provincial cities leading up to Saturday’s conference in the capital. They are the initiative of the Chamber Reform Commission, which was set up by the Afghan Senior Minister and former Minister of Commerce and Industries, Hedayat Amin Arsala, in July 2005 to facilitate the decision making process concerning the future of the Chamber system in Afghanistan

Information was presented at the seven meetings about the main Chamber models employed around the world, and a total of 455 business representatives were elected to participate in Saturday’s conference.

There will be presentations on Saturday by several senior figures, including the new Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr Mir Mohammad Amin Farhang, whose appointment was approved by Parliament on Monday. Voting to choose the new system of Chambers for Afghanistan will be held at 12.00 noon, and the results of the vote will be announced before the end of the meeting.

A press conference, to which all the media are invited, will be held in an adjacent room at the Kabul Ariana Restaurant at 1.00pm.