Afghanistan launches biometric register to improve business license issuing process

A biometric system for licensing businesses is being launched by the government of Afghanistan in order to improve the ease and efficiency with which licenses are processed, Menafn reports.

The new initiative was announced by the Afghan Ministry of Industries and Commerce, and will be operated by its General Directorate of Central Registration and Intellectual Property.

The new system is part of a broad reform program, which enabled the Directorate to distribute 5,000 more licenses in 2019 than in 2018, with 19,000 licenses issued in the past year.

The biometric system was inaugurated by Acting Commerce Minister Ajmal Ahmady over the weekend, and the Ministry says the necessary reforms have been implemented in the provinces of Herat, Kandahar, and Balkh.

The country is also seeking India’s help to build a national biometric register of citizens, and used biometrics to block 88,000 fraudulent votes in its 2019 Presidential election, but the final results from the vote are yet to be confirmed months later.

Article Topics

Afghanistan  |  biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  government services  |  identity verification