Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority and Group 42 of the United Arab Emirates signed three contracts in the areas of security services, operation management, ground handling, and aviation systems and technology on Thursday.

The contract was signed by Mohammad Qasim Wafayezada, Head of Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority, and Mansoor Al-Mansoori, Chief Operating Officer of Group 42 of the UAE in the presence of President Ashraf Ghani, the national security advisor Hamdullah Mohib, and Acting Minister of Finance Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal at the Presidential Palace on Thursday afternoon.

The Presidential Palace said in a statement that Ataullah Nasib, Head of Investment Facilitation Unit of Office of the President said UAE’s Group 42 develop and deploy high-impact industry solutions in the sectors of aviation, energy, healthcare, oil and gas, and extractive industry, adding that the company showed willingness and commitment to enter into cooperation with Afghanistan in areas related to civil aviation, mainly for Afghanistan’s four international airports.

Terming the contracts ‘truly strategic, President Ashraf Ghani said, “We celebrated the birth of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) this morning and signed strategic cooperation agreement with the UAE company in the afternoon.”

He added that historical and political relations between Afghanistan and UAE can be named as ‘comprehensive economic partnership’.

President Ghani said, unfortunately, the great potentials at Afghanistan international airports haven’t been utilized. He stressed that the government has entered into cooperation with G42 as the company has great experiences in the fields of security services, ground handling, and aviation systems and technology.

“I am confident that officials, service personnel of airports, clients, and our people will feel the tangible changes upon implementation of these contracts,” Ghani added.

“Our airports are our vital infrastructures so we need to ensure standard service delivery which is essential in terms of operation management and ground handling,” added the president while underlining that export of Afghan products through air corridor should meet those standards. 

President Ghani highlighted that Hamid Karzai International Airport has great potentials to turn into a cargo platform.

He added that international airports of Kandahar and Herat can serve as connection points with UAE and Mawlana Jalaluddin Balkhi airport can link Afghanistan to Central Asia, which altogether create a suitable network of airports.

Meanwhile, Mansoor Al-Mansoori stated that the contracts would create more opportunities for cooperation between Afghan and UAE institutions.

He noted that Afghanistan and UAE enjoy historical and friendly ties that have been further consolidated within recent years.