The National Procurement Authority (NPA) on Wednesday said it has saved almost 18 billion AFs by following the correct procedures which resulted in the approval of over 2,000 contracts over the past two years.

With the implementation of a transparent system in the procurement process regarding contracts, officials were able to weed out over 900 incomplete and illegal contracts and bids in this time.  

But officials from the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said that the time it takes to process contracts and bids creates problems for contractors and investors.

“Currently there are a lot of problems, because today many companies which had signed contracts for mines are facing financial crisis because of issues related to the contracts,” said ACCI spokesman Seyam Pesarlai.

NPA chief Yama Yari said over the past two years, they had approved contracts worth 345 billion Afs.

He said the lack of proper management in government institutions and insecurity were still creating problems in terms of implementing projects.  

“Insecurity and the lack of a strong management system in government institutions are two key factors in our way; there is a need to upgrade the capacity of government institutions,” added Yari.

NPA officials have reiterated that in view of problems regarding mining laws, some contracts are still awarded without a proper tender process being followed.