Business
ADB provides financial aids to enhance Agricultural Productivity in Afghanistan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday has approved an $18.28 million grant as additional financing for a project that aims to enhance agricultural productivity in northeast Afghanistan.
According to the ADB statement, the additional financing for the Panj–Amu River Basin Sector Project will improve access to water and enhance the resilience of watersheds to disaster and climate risks by expanding project activities in the provinces of Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Takhar. It will also help improve water access and management in six additional provinces: Samangan, Baghlan, Bamyan, Panjshir, Parwan, and Wardak.
“The additional financing will support the expansion of forestry and rangeland protection from 10,000 hectares to 27,760 hectares; installation of physical infrastructure and revegetation and reforestation; improvements in water availability to rural households for irrigation and other uses; and preparation of watershed resource management plans,” read the statement.
“Agriculture remains a major engine of growth for Afghanistan and plays an important role in improving the lives of the Afghan people,” said ADB Senior Project Officer Mohammad Hanif Ayubi. “This additional financing will help Afghanistan in its recovery from COVID-19 by improving water availability for irrigated agriculture and creating more employment opportunities for rural communities.”
The Panj–Amu River Basin is a major production center for wheat, rice, vegetables, and fruit. Increasing agricultural productivity in the area is expected to help address food insecurity and increase per capita incomes in rural communities.
ADB has committed more than $879 million in grants (including ADB-administered cofinancing) in the agriculture, natural resources, and rural development sectors in Afghanistan since 2002.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
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