Afghanistan's deputy minister of industry and commerce, Ahmadullah Zahid, says more than 160,000 acres of land have been allocated for industrial parks and about 100,000 acres have already been formally transferred to the ministry. He says the remaining transfers are still in process and land distribution is under way in several provinces.
Zahid also cited roughly 5,000 industrial factories operating nationwide. Both figures are ministry estimates and should be read as official data because there is no comprehensive independent national register covering active factories, production capacity and employment.
Land is a necessary part of industrial development, but it does not by itself create a functioning industrial park. Reliable electricity, water, roads, drainage, storage, finance, raw materials and market access determine whether allocated sites become productive.
Recent industrial-park projects in Balkh, Kunduz and Baghlan show how the land programme is being translated into provincial sites. The more useful measures of progress will be occupied plots, operating factories, production and sustained jobs rather than acreage alone.