The future of the Afghan economy
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2021
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What will the US withdrawal from Afghanistan mean for the economy? The relative security provided by US forces and others over the past 20 years not only helped many grow successful family enterprises but also attracted foreign investors and larger business ventures. Rebecca Kesby speaks to Saad Mohseni, Chief Executive of MOBI, a media company that launched the first private radio station playing pop music in Afghanistan, which had been banned under the Taliban. What does he make of the sudden withdrawal of American troops? Among those with the most to fear are businesswomen. Under the US influence women and girls enjoyed greater freedom, access to education and many built successful companies of their own including Ayeda Shadab who has her own fashion brand. In the past few weeks she has received several death threats just for running her own business. And Iskander Akylbayev, Executive Director of the Kazakhstan Council on International Relations, tells Rebecca that increased instability in Afghanistan may affect the whole regional dynamic.
Photo: A vendor displays a traditional outfit at a shop in Koch-e Morgha street in Kabul on June 15, 2021. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Rebecca Kesbby. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:07.1 | Today, with just days to go before the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, |
| 0:12.7 | we're looking at how the economy might be affected. |
| 0:15.7 | Definitely not good for the business community. There's been no real transition from U.S. to Afghan forces. I mean, it's |
| 0:22.2 | complete shambles, and I think history will judge this as one of the worst withdrawals we have |
| 0:27.1 | seen. With the security situation worsening in some provinces, there's anxiety that the Taliban |
| 0:33.3 | may become dominant again, and business women have more to fear than most. |
| 0:38.3 | Of course, we are afraid because if they take over the country, |
| 0:42.3 | then women mostly they cannot work. |
| 0:44.4 | So we don't want to have the same situation again. |
| 0:48.2 | Since we studied a lot, we tried a lot, we put effort to do our own business. |
| 0:53.9 | So what next for the Afghan economy? That's coming up on Business Daily. |
| 1:01.4 | Afghanistan faces an uncertain few weeks and months. The US withdrawal will be complete within a matter of days. |
| 1:09.3 | After 20 years, the Afghan military will be on their own |
| 1:12.6 | against the militants. And it's going to be tough, as highlighted just this week. |
| 1:21.3 | A rocket attack near the presidential palace in Kabul |
| 1:29.2 | interrupted Eid prayers. |
| 1:33.6 | Incredibly, most of the worshippers barely even flinched. |
| 1:35.2 | Afghans are resilient. |
| 1:38.8 | But there's a lot of concern about the security situation, which is already deteriorating and it's beginning to affect the economy. |
| 1:46.0 | I run a shop selling juice and cold water. Every day I see the situation getting worse on TV. |
| 1:51.7 | We're all really worried about it. But what can we do? I can't go anywhere. I just have to try to |
... |
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