On Saturday, November 21, 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS), launched its recent research paper titled “Dependency and Development: Role of Foreign Aid in Afghanistan's Socio-economic Development”. The launching ceremony was accompanied by an online discussion with Dr. Jawad Ramyar, university lecturer and AISS research fellow; Sayed Zaman Hashemi, chief executive officer for the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI); and Saifuddin Saihoon, professor of Kabul university. The event was moderated by Razia Najafizada, an anti-corruption specialist at presidential palace.
Dr. Ramyar said that there are many countries that have grown with the help of the international community but have not achieved development, and that only Germany and South Korea have developed from this aid. He said that the flow of aid in Afghanistan over the past ten years shoed that except the education index, the situation is negative in other areas. He added that there is no specific number in the foreign aid section that indicates the amount of aid, neither in the SIGAR reports nor in the World Bank reports. According to Ramyar, the evidence shows that our foreign partners have not been honest about aid. In some cases, the amount of money they mentioned was only in words and in practice was less, he said. According to Ramyar, Afghanistan has a mosaic structure in terms of society and this diversity is not taken into account in the development sector, and that in the future, it is better to implement a local model of development in the country.
"We have not been able to use the aid effectively, and one of the important factors is the lack of economic structures and manpower," said Sayed Zaman Hashemi. Afghanistan is of special importance in terms of geographical location and underground reserves, he added. According to Hashemi, the amount of aid to Afghanistan was more than the Marshall Plan to Europe after World War II, but unfortunately Afghanistan has remained a poor country. He added that wrong investment policies in the country have led to the loss of existing resources and no new investment. In the field of mining, he said, the change of mining laws by various ministers has caused investors to lose confidence in Afghanistan, and this has had a negative impact on attracting investment in Afghanistan.
Saifuddin Saihoon said Afghanistan is a country that in its contemporary history has always received foreign aid and has always needed it. The aid has not been spent on important infrastructure and economic development, but rather on short-term projects, he believed. According to Saihoon, the consumption pattern for aid to Afghanistan is not appropriate for the country`s situation, and this has created economic dependence. He added that global aid to Afghanistan was repayable and not invested in national infrastructure, and that one of the reasons was the lack of knowledge of social realities by its implementers.