NEW AFGHAN MINISTER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES TAKES UP HIS POST

Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Kabul, Wednesday 9th August 2006: The Afghan First Deputy President, Ahmad Zia Massoud, is due to introduce the new Minister of Commerce and Industries, Dr Mir Mohammad Amin Farhang, to his ministry tomorrow, 10th August 2006. The Afghan Lower House of Parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, approved on Monday President Hamid Karzai’s appointment of Dr Farhang as the new Minister of Commerce and Industries. He replaces the Afghan Senior Minister, Hedayat Amin Arsala, who has also been acting as Minister of Commerce and Industries.

Until March this year, Dr Farhang was the Afghan Minister of Economy. Born in 1940, he was a professor of economics at Kabul University from 1974 to 1978. In 1978 he was imprisoned in Pul-e-Charki Jail, because of his opposition to the Communist regime, until his release in 1982, when he went to live in Germany. In Germany, Dr Farhang was a professor at Ruhr University. After the fall of Taliban, he was appointed Minister of Reconstruction in December 2001 in President Hamid Karzai’s first government.

Dr Farhang has written many articles on economic, social and political issues for Afghan and international publications. He speaks Dari, Pashto, German, French and English. Dr Farhang says he looks forward to leading the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. “I welcome this new challenge in an important ministry, as the Government of Afghanistan strives to improve the business environment and improve the lives of Afghans all around the country,” says Dr Farhang.

The Afghan Senior Minister, Mr Hedayat Amin Arsala, endorses Mr Farhang’s appointment. “With all his academic qualifications and experience in the Ministry of Economy, and previously with Ministry of Reconstruction, Dr Farhang is an excellent choice for this post. I wish him good luck and all success in leading the many programmes being set up by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,” says Mr Arsala.