KABUL (SW) – Kabul-based publishers and printing press professional say the industry is on the verge of collapse owing to various challenges.
A number of printers in Kabul say that printing of books outside the country and the government’s negligence have stagnated their work.
Shakir Safdari, a printer in Kabul, said he had at least eight employees a few months ago, but economic challenges and a lack of jobs in the printing market have led to the dismissal of all his employees, and his business is now in recession.
Meanwhile, officials at the Afghanistan Printing Association, which has about 200 printers from across the country, say that except one or two printers in the country, all are in a state of collapse.
According to the union, in recent months a large number of printing houses in the country have ceased operations and thousands of people have lost their jobs in this sector.
Mohammad Shakir Samimi, vice president of the Afghan Printing Union, said the reason for the stagnation was the economic challenges, the government’s negligence, the monopoly of the printing market, the printing of books abroad, especially in Iran and Pakistan, and the problems with raw material imports.
He says that they have repeatedly referred to various government agencies to address these challenges, but no action has been taken to address their request.
According to surveys conducted in the previous government, Kabul printing presses have the capacity to print about 550,000 books a day.
We tried to get the view of the Ministry of Information and Culture on the plans of the caretaker government to save this industry, but we did not succeed.
ENDS
