Economy, Manufacturing

Industrial development increased substantially after World War II (1939-1945). With the opening in 1965 of a large West German-built wool mill, woolen-textile production more than doubled. Among the other factories located primarily in Kabul are plants manufacturing textiles (the most important manufactured export product) and footwear; cement plants; a fruit-processing plant; a plant making coal briquettes; and several cotton gins. As with other aspects of the economy, the decades of war were a major obstacle to industrial expansion.