Feasible industrial sustainable development strategies for the Herat Province of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been a commercial bridge between Asia and Europe since the earliest times in history. Due to its geopolitical position, many civilizations have fought to seize this geography. Today, this fate of history has not changed so much. War and terror have always existed in Afghanistan since the early 1980s. Sustainable Development Goals and the infrastructure improvements needed to achieve these goals can be a future and hope for Afghanistan. In this context, an industrial sustainable development strategy for Afghanistan needs to be implemented urgently. This should be started in Herat Province, where has the high potential of economic and commercial provinces of Afghanistan. This study aims to explore and analyze the feasible industrial sustainable development strategies relevant to socio-technical theory, which can also be the main contributor to rural development, for the Herat province of Afghanistan. In the study, we employ a quantitative research method. The necessary data was collected from a questionnaire, which was formulated as a result of a comprehensive literature review. A survey study on the field was conducted on a sample of 250 artisans of Herat Province. Exporting of domestic goods and products to the neighborhood and other countries through the creation of land and air transportation routes; creating job opportunities through encouraging and supporting of domestic and foreign investors in industrial field; training of professional and specialized cadres and raising the capacity of entrepreneurs by creating educational, vocational and technical centers; reduction of products costs such as electricity and fuel for investors through the creation of internal energy sources and construction of dams without harming natural and environmental resources have been recommended to implement in the Herat Province, respectively.