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MINES AND INDUSTRIES His Majesty the King formally opening the Gul- bahar Textile Mills. The Minister of Mines and Industries and the President of the Textile Company are seen on either side of His Majesty. The Ministry of Mines and Industries, which is entrusted with the task of organising Afghanistan's industry and mineral resources, has made considerable progress during the fourth year of the Plan. The Plan aims at establishing an equilibrium between the economic structure of the country and the produc- tion of consumer goods in order to pave the way for economic progress in the future and to raise the immediate standard of living of the people without importing a heavy amount of foreign goods. To achieve this the Government has invested heavily in basic industries such as petroleum, coal, electricity and cement while free enterprise was given the opportunity to make investments in con- sumer goods such as textiles, porcelain, and so on. Sometimes when the need arises, both Government and private capital is utilised to start a new industry, but generally private capital is put into short term enterprise. THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIES The Departmen of Industries works as a liaison between the Government and various industries in connection with Government investment and is also con- cerned with the protection of private industries by providing them with low rates of exchange, exemption from customs duty on their imports of machinery, building materials and raw materials, granting credits and arranging special training courses. Further, the project Bill for mines and petroleum which was presented to the Parliament should prepare the ground for more Government, private and foreign invest- ment in mines and petroleum. The Gulbahar Textile Mills, which con- tain 43,000 spindles, 1,200 automatic 34