Press Release

Afghanistan Central Business Registry Opens in Jalalabad

Jalalabad, Afghanistan  | Monday, July 13, 2009

Today, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry opened the first provincial Central Business Registry Office in Jalalabad City, Nangarhar Province. The new office provides businesses with the opportunity to complete all steps of the registration process in one location. 

“Afghan businessmen will be able to register their businesses faster, cheaper, and easier,” said HE Wahidullah Shahrani, Minister of Commerce and Industry. “This service is provided for entrepreneurs forming a business. This process that used to take several days has been reduced to a few hours and has resulted in greater transparency, reduced corruption, and increased efficiency.”

Nangarhar Governor GulAgha Sherzai welcomed the new office and added, “The establishment of the Central Business Registry in Jalalabad will make it easier for those businesses that had to wait up to two weeks or travel to Kabul to register.”

Small and medium businesses are the backbone of economic growth in many developing economies, and I am glad that Afghanistan is creating institutions that allow such businesses to legally register and thrive,” said the U.S. Embassy’s Coordinating Director for Development and Economic Affairs, Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne.“The United States is proud to support the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in removing obstacles to doing business and creating a healthy business environment in Afghanistan.”

All Afghan investors and traders are required by law to be registered, to obtain a tax identification number (TIN), and to be published in the official gazette.  They can now complete all of these steps at the Central Business Registry in Jalalabad. The new computerized registry system helps to bring Afghanistan’s business registration practices up to international standards.  It is one more step that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is taking to expand and support Afghan businesses in the country’s provinces.

The registration fee is 500 AFN ($10).  The publishing of the business details and information in the Gazette is 1000 AFN ($20) per publication. Receipt of a tax identification number is free.  The Central Business Registry is required by the Corporation and Limited Liability Companies Law promulgated in 2007. 

The new Central Registry was renovated and furnished with the financial assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).