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IEA says progress made on airport contracts with Qatar, Turkey
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) said on Friday that progress has been made in negotiations with Qatar and Turkey to manage the country’s airports but that no final agreement has yet been reached with the two countries.
The IEA’s deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi said an IEA delegation, led by the acting foreign minister, to Doha recently, focused on areas of concern which were identified and that efforts were now being made to resolve the issues.
Among those who met with Turkish and Qatari officials was the IEA’s acting minister of transport and civil aviation.
“The meetings and negotiations were good, and the issues that postponed the negotiations and the points that are complicated were identified as the same points, and the same points will be examined to solve the problems, but no agreement has been reached yet,” said Karimi.
Meanwhile, the First Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar recently met with businessmen in Doha and told them he had instructed transport and aviation ministry officials to prioritize negotiations on airport management.
“In the discussion of airports, especially Kabul airport, we have talks inside and outside with a number of countries, but we have not yet reached an agreement with anyone, and we are considering it and informing the aviation authorities to take this issue seriously,” said Baradar.
This comes after several meetings in the past few months between the technical teams of the transport and aviation ministry and delegates from Turkey and Qatar.
Earlier this year, reports emerged that Turkey and Qatar were trying to deploy troops to Afghan airports, but the Islamic Emirate has denied the allegations, stressing that their talks with Qatar and Turkey are of a technical nature and there is no talk of a foreign troop presence in the country.
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Wednesday that the Islamic Emirate is committed to freedom of media and their activities within the framework of Islamic principles.
In his meeting with officials from several media outlets and supporting organizations, Mujahid stressed the need for increased cooperation between government institutions and the media.
He said that the IEA is working to create a better environment for media activities in the country.
The Government Media and Information Center reported that media officials shared some existing issues regarding access to information with the spokesperson of the IEA and requested solutions to these challenges.
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said Wednesday that the Islamic Emirate prioritizes poverty reduction and job opportunities.
Addressing the National Conference on Microfinance Opportunities and Challenge”, Baradar stated that beneficiaries of microfinance initiatives include needy Afghans, traders, and small business owners, and that working with these groups is a shared goal of the IEA and the international community.
Participants at the conference included members of the cabinet, representatives from the UN, the EU, the World Bank country director to Afghanistan, ambassadors to Kabul, officials from international and domestic organizations, and a number of investors and businesspeople.
The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology said on Wednesday that the costs of data, phone calls and internet packages will be cut by between 14 and 36 percent by all service providers.
Najibullah Haqqani, the acting minister, said at a press conference that a one-minute phone call between the same network will cost 1.30 afghanis, and between different networks it will cost 1.40 afghanis per minute, down from 1.85.
One GB of data, valid for a month, will be set at 95 afghanis, down from 110 afghanis. This is a 14% drop in price, he said.
He also said text messages between subscribers on the same network will cost 1.30 afghanis per message.
Haqqani also stated that 800 new mobile phone sites, including towers, have been established in remote areas and 1,000 inactive sites have been reactivated.
In addition, Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (ATRA) said of the 26 million SIM cards in use, 14 million have been registered under the new administration.
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