Afghanistan's first synthetic fiber manufacturing plant – "Paktika Shaheen Fiber Production Company" – began operations on Tuesday in Kabul. The factory will recycle used plastic bottles to make fiber for artificial cotton and carpets.
The plant was set-up at a cost of $2 million and is expected to provide employment opportunities for nearly 300 workers.
However, officials of the new recycling plant expressed concerns about the shortage of electricity and land to keep the factory operational year-round.
"We do not have ownership of the land, it has been taken on lease. The land should be given to us. We spent money to set-up the factory, and if the factory is moved somewhere else we will suffer heavy losses. We are also facing a serious shortage of electricity," said Shaikh Mohammad Zamani, the Chairman of the Fiber Production Company.
Wafiullah Eftikhar, the head of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), welcomed the opening of the factory and said that it would help generating more employment opportunities and is a step toward self-sufficiency. Mr. Eftikhar assured that he would try to solve the problems facing the company.
The officials of the factory claim that the factory would be able to produce seven tones of fiber in a single day, which would be utilized to make cotton and carpets. The officials further added that the capacity of the production could increase to 20 tones within a month and eventually provide employment to 600 people.