Comments on Draft of Economic Policy of Afghanistan
1. مقدمہ The policy of ghaddar governments (2002-21) was capitalist not “free market” ”آزاد منڈٰی“
2. In the مقدمہ (Preamble) it should be clearly stated that the primary purpose of economic policy design and measures is the promotion of Islamic Values – صبر، توکل، انفاق
3. Reference to Human Development Index (HDI) in مقدمہ should be avoided. HDI is an imperialist/capitalist concept.
4. In پہلا حصہ under مطمح نظر the words ”اور جہادی“ should be added after خوش حال and before ”افغانستان“
5. Under اہداف the first ہدف should be “the promotion of صبر، توکل، انفاق through economic policy.
6. اہمیت اور ضرورت should include after “اقتصادی اہداف کے حصول" , عوامی سطح پر اسلامی اقدار کا فروغ and after عوام کی سہولت اور فراہمی ہو, "اور ان میں اسلامی شعار فروغ پائیں۔
7. معاشی پالیسی after شہریوں کے حالات کو بہتر بنایا جائے add اور ان میں صبر اور انفاق فروغ پائیں۔
8. استحکام. Remove بیرونی سرمایہ کاری کے پرکشش مواقع as this is not necessary for پہلی شرط for معاشی ترقی
9. پائیدار اقتصادی ترقی second اجتماعی بہتری ہدف should include فروغِ اقدارِ اسلامی as a priority goals of economic policy, this should also be included under اجتماعی انصاف کا تحفظ
10. صورت حال کا جائزہ in the first paragraph after اقتصادی مشکلات جیسا کہ add عوامی سطح پر سرمایہ دارانہ اخلاقیات کے فروغ
11. After اقتصادی سرگرمیوں کے فروغ add اور عوام میں فروغِ اسلامی اقتصادی اقدار
12. After متحرک اور ترقی یافتہ add اسلامی غیر سرمایہ دارانہ
13. پالیسی کی تفصیل after شہریوں کی حالت بہتر بنانے add اور ان میں اسلامی اقتصادی شعور کو فروغ دینے
14. After شہریوں کی سہولیات کی بہبود add اور ان میں اسلامی اقتصادی اقدار کے فروغ
15. After شہریوں کے روشن مستقبل add اور ان میں اسلامی اقتصادی اقدار کے فروغ
16. After اسلامی افغانستان کا نکتہ نگاہ add عوام میں اسلامی معاشی اقدار کا فروغ
17. After زندگی کو بہتر بنانے میں add اور ان میں اسلامی اقتصادی اقدار کے فروغ کے لیے
18. After سرکاری ملازمین کی استعداد کار add اور ان کی روحانی اور اخلاقی تربیت
19. After اقتصادی اور سماجی ترقی add اور اسلامی شعور کے فروغ
20. Foreign Exchange Management In DAIMG’s opinion this should also include,
a. A commitment to completely de-dollarization of the domestic economy
b. All foreign exchange inflows and outflows should be routed through DAB. Total elimination of all private sector trade in foreign exchange open markets.
21. Commitment to reduce the budget deficit should be avoided since this implies adopting a deflationary macro-economic policy, non-interest based deficit financing needs to be determined by the need and feasibility of planned defense and productive public sector investment.
22. Brief details of imports policy required. We recommend a total ban on all luxury imports.
23. As noted above a primary purpose of economic policy should be the promotion of Islamic values ایثار، صبر، توکل، انفاق among mass consumers, investors and traders.
24. Foreign Investment. The document should make explicit our foreign investment policy. DAIMG recommends that
a. Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) be promoted in strategic sectors (mining, pharmaceuticals, ITC). It should not be encouraged in consumption goods sector.
b. DFI should not serve as a means for locking the Afghan economy into subordinated positions within global supply chains.
c. DFI sources should primarily be countries being excluded from global capital markets (Belarus, Iran, Russia, Venezuela) and Islamic groups in Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
d. No loan or other forms of foreign portfolio investment should be taken by the Afghan government or the domestic private sector as this is a means for locking the Afghan economy to riba and gharar based global capital and money markets.
e. DFI in infrastructure should avoid multinational monopolization and domination in the energy, water and telecommunication sectors.
25. Training of Professionals. Religious and spiritual training of professionals and managers is absolutely essential as they are most likely to have internalized by capitalist mindsets and values. This is not realized in the policy document.
26. Communication through international networks. Afghanistan’s communication network should not be dominated by global server networks (google, Facebook, Microsoft, Tiktok) as this can serve as a means for imperialist surveillance and sabotage. We should be very selective in opening up our communication network to international sources.
27. DAIMG recommends close cooperation with Iran to the development of the energy and telecommunication sectors.
28. Agriculture. DAIMG recommends:
a. Value chain of agricultural products should be entirely domestic – not linked to global grain, commodity and other agricultural raw material markets (textiles and leather). Exports of manufactured/raw agricultural products should be strictly prohibited.
b. A regional distribution policy to be designed to prevent food shortages (especially in winter). Estimates of food needs of different regions should be developed and arrangements (through state procurements) should be made for regular transfer of grain from surplus to deficit regions and districts.
29. Mining. The requirements of DFI for the development of mining is enormous. Mining extraction in Latin American countries has served as a primary means for their imperialist subjugation which could not be avoided by the populist regions of Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Mexico. To avoid this DAIMG recommends:
a. Mining contracts should include clauses requiring increasing domestic possessing of extracted mineral raw material and an increasing proportion of mineral products should take the form of processed and manufactured goods.
b. Mining contracts should include arrangements for technology transfer. DFI should
be structured in the form of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contracts.
c. Close link between mining and manufacturing should be developed so that an increasing proportions of raw material are utilized for domestic manufacturing.
d. Joint venture contracts be so structured that foreign loan liabilities are assigned entirely to the foreign investors.
30. Manufacturing.
a. Setting up exclusive industrial especially export processing zones (EPZs) should be avoided.
b. The formulation of a rehabilitation strategy for revival of selected Emirate Enterprises should be prioritized.
c. Consideration should be given to nationalization of basic and capital goods manufactures and some infrastructure (steel, military equipment, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals).
31. Investment promotion
a. While investment should be promoted it should not take the form of capitalist property. There is no realization of this need and no measures are suggested to safeguard the Islamic character of investment growth in Afghanistan.
b. The Draft recommends a laissez fair investment policy سرمایہ کاری کے ضوابط کو کم سے کم کرنا. This does not reflect the fact that Afghanistan is an exceptional Islamic state surrounded by a hostile dar-al-harb دارالحرب. The free flow of foreign capital will undermine the sovereignty and independence of IEA. Foreign investment must be restricted to DFI and it should be strictly strategically regulated.
32. There is a misconception about the role of international economic organization. International economic organization have been set up and function to impose imperialist dominance over poor countries and to subordinate them to global capitalist order. If Afghanistan is to develop an Islamic economy it should not submit to global capitalism. This means it should not join organizations such as IMF, WTO, WIPO, the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank etc.
33. Reference to اعلیٰ معیارِ زندگی (in the section on سماجی بہبود) should be avoided. This neglects the Islamic صفت of قناعت. The Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم needs were modest and the Islamic government must restrain the quest for a high standard of living among the masses.
34. Reference to انسانی اشاریہ – i.e. the UN Human Development Index in section on سماجی بہبود should be avoided as this is a capitalist value linked concept. Reference to انسانی سرمایہ “human capital” should also be avoided.
35. Replace متوازن طرز زندگی with اسلامی طرز حیات in section سماجی بہبود
36. In section on انسانی وسائل substitute دفتر with شعبہ. Reference to “good governance should also be avoided as this is a capitalist concept.
37. The section on انسانی وسائل should lay strong emphasize on the spiritual and religious training of the professionals and the labor force. This is not mentioned at all in the means listed for promoting انسانی وسائل. Developing an Islamic workforce requires that managers, professionals and all other workers have strong Islamic consciousness. This means that there should be constant training تبلیغ، تلقین of all professionals and workers in the Islamic knowledges (both spiritual and religious) and in Islamic ethics.
38. In the section on “small loans” add بلاسود قرضہ حسنہ
39. In the section on سرکاری کمپنی reference should be made to institution of a comprehensive selective enterprises rehabilitation program involving a consolidation of existing enterprises in selected sectors.
Overall
A. This document outlining the economic policy of the IEA does not recognize the need for designing economic policy as a means for the promotion of Islamic consciousness at the mass level. It is very dangerous to separate economic management from the Societal Dawah effort for this can lead to the secularization of the economy and society. The Islamic Emirate must recognize the need for integrating the Dawah effort with the economic management process at both the micro and macro level so that the production and also distribution of wealth becomes a means for the promotion of صبر، توکل، انفاق at the mass level.
B. Unless we succeed in doing this Afghanistan will evolve into a typical capitalist economy and the survival of flourishing of an Islamic political regime will become more and more difficult. This fact is not realized in the policy document and analysis reflects acceptance of capitalist conventional wisdom. Muslim professionals have been schooled in the capitalist discipline of economics which obscures the fact that capitalism is a comprehensive way of life (دین ) and the capitalist market necessarily colonizes society. Creating and running a non-capitalist economy is absolutely essential for preserving Islamic rule in Afghanistan.
C. The Document’s vision is the creation of a typical welfare economy in Afghanistan. There is no recognition that we must develop a jihadi not a welfare economy in Afghanistan. This is because Afghanistan is an exceptional Islamic state surrounded by a global hostile dar-al-harb. At the core of the economy we must situate the military sector. Integrating military sector production and consumption with that of civilian sectors is vitally important for the survival of Islamic rule in Afghanistan. This issue is not addressed in the Document.
D. The document advocates an “open door” policy with respect to foreign investment. It does not recognize that foreign investment and trade can be a means for subordinated integration of our national economy to imperialist global value chain. To avoid this we must adopt a selective approach to foreign investment. Such an attempt requires (1) restricting direct foreign investment to selective sectors (2) promoting joint venture contracts whereby foreign direct liabilities are assigned only to foreign investors and not to their public or private domestic investment partners (3) rejects all form of portfolio foreign investment and rejecting all loan transactions with global money and capital markets.
E. Similarly we must adopt a selective approach with regard to partner countries prioritizing transactions with countries that are being excluded from the imperialist global system – (Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Russia, Venezuela). We should not seek membership in international economic organizations which subordinate poor countries to global imperialist market – discipline such as the IMF, the World Bank, WTO etc.
F. The document says almost nothing about monetary and credit policy. There is a need to state that the Islamic economy will be a riba and gharar free economy and that a capital and money market will never be established in Afghanistan and that the government will have complete control over currency (both national and foreign) and credit creation and distribution.
G. The document’s “free market orientation also prevents it from saying anything about the governing role of the state in community development and with respect to developing planning responsibilities from the state to the community level. It is not realized that community organization must in present circumstances be a state project in Afghanistan.