Freedom & Economics Seminar | Nangarhar
The “Freedom & Economics Seminar” was successfully organized by the Afghanistan Economic and Legal Studies Organization (AELSO) with the cooperation of Al-Taqwa Institute of Higher Education and participation of 150 participants including university professors, civil society activists, freedom defenders, and students for half day at Jalabad city of Nangarhar province.
In this seminar, participants learned and exchanged their ideas about important topics such as; freedom, economic development, and entrepreneurship as well as the compatibility of these values with the teachings of the holy religion of Islam.
Mohammad Hanif Farzan, Chairman of AELSO, as first speaker of the seminar, expressed the perspective of AELSO regarding economic ideas and added:” Considering update economic ideas, Entrepreneurship is a practical solution to reduce poverty in Afghanistan, therefore, AELSO is focusing on promoting this important economic idea through organizing seminars, conferences and translating & printing related books.”
Khushal Jawad, Head of Al-Taqwa Institute of Higher Education, pointed to the important role of academic institutions in economic development of the country and said:” The active presence of universities and think thanks in the society leads youth to have creative thinking and provides the opportunity for economic development in the country.”
Mohibullah Allahyar, Academic Vice Chancellor of Tabish University, stated the role of freedom of speech in economic development and emphasized:” Freedom of expression that stands for expressing truth will reduce corruption in a society and professional & effective management of freedom of expression will obviously lead a country to economic growth and development.”
Following the seminar, Abdul Qaher Beheshti, General Programs Director of AELSO, as another speaker of the seminar, expressed his view about the importance of freedom and entrepreneurship in economic development and said:” Freedom and development has direct contribution with each other. In the absence of freedom, there will be no development and vice versa. Beside that, entrepreneurship is the main pillar of economic development; even small entrepreneurs can play a big role in the growth and economic development of Afghanistan. Therefore, from today on, you can prepare your entrepreneurship business plans for participating and competing in “National Entrepreneurship Camp” of AELSO that will be organized soon.”
Akram Adeel, social activist in Eastern Zone of the country, talked about role of youth in promoting the principles of economic development and briefly said:” Youth can play effective role in promoting the principles of economic development as well as freedom in the country by learning about different issues through participating in academic seminars such as “Freedom and Economics” seminar.”
In Open Mic round, the participants of the seminar expressed their views about freedom and economic development situation in Afghanistan. Ershad Arian, one of the participants of the seminar, talked on behalf of youth:” It is a popular quote which says; “If you want to achieve big goals, you must start from doing small things”, therefore, in my opinion, we as youth of the country, need to start from having small investments and entrepreneurship ideas to achieve economic freedom and economic development in Afghanistan in the future.”
Nabiullah Nabil, economic affairs expert, as last speaker of the seminar, summarized the “Freedom and Economics Seminar” and said: “The academic institutions such as universities should prepare their curriculum of studies according to the need of today’s labour market in order to equip students with the most update lessons and enhance their capacities to provide initiatives to achieve economic development in the country. Also, I highly recommend AELSO to conduct such seminars in 34 provinces of the country for institutionalizing the development ideas throughout the country.”
The “Freedom and Economics Seminar” ended by donating the books of AELSO to the leadership board of Al-Taqwa Institute of Higher Education along with the guests of the seminar, distributing certificates and taking a group photo with the participants of the seminar.
Towards a Free and Prosperous Afghanistan
Relations & Publications Department