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The mining law is a major hurdle to investment growth in Afghanistan

The Natural Resources Monitoring Network (NRMN) have highlighted problems present in Afghanistan’s mining law and called on the government to amend the law in order to boost investment. According to NRMN, the mining law is a major hurdle to investment growth in the country due to its flaws. One of the problems highlighted is the ambiguity of the articles of the law regarding contracts and awarding of mining contracts through nepotism. NRMN claims that a major portion of mining revenue goes to a few powerful men and armed anti-government groups. About a year ago, the European Union's (EU) special envoy to Afghanistan (H.E. Franz-Michael Mellbin) said that the recommendations for the prevention of illegal extraction he submitted to the Afghan government weren't taken into consideration by the Afghan officials. "They are not implemented yet, there is weak legislation which needs to be changed, there is a monitoring system that also is not able to do the job and it will need also to crackdown on those who get away with impunity currently with illegal mining activities." The Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA) has confirmed the problems in the mining law and called for immediate amendments to the law. “The mining law should be amended in order to assure transparency in this sector,” said a senior research at IWA. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum said the law has been amended before and will be amended again, if necessary for national interest.
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